Hunter's Heart
by IronRaven
Summary: Remembering why she killed her love, Sango's mind travels the past few days. How will she respond when she learns Miroku ISN'T dead.
1. Hunter's Heart Prologue: Why

Hunter's Heart (Prologue: Why?)  
by IronRaven 

Disclaimer: Kagome, her honey, and their extended family aren't mine. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi-sama. However, any original characters are mine. 

Rated R for language, sexual innuendo, and violence. You may want a hanky for this opening. 

--- 

"Put the sword down, my love, or I _will_ snap her pretty little neck. You know I can." The voice of the man Sango once loved burned at her ears. The voice, once smooth, like honey over ice, grated in her mind. Its owner was holding Kagome's head in his hands, ready to break the miko's neck with a single twist. 

"Sango, stop him, please. Don't worry about me, he can't have the Jewel." Kagome's neck felt filled with ice, strained past the point she had ever turned her head. The rich, thick, musky scent of masculinity, soaked by time into the black cloth, filled her nose, nauseating her. Her eyes darted from Sango, holding her sword in her left hand, the right hanging useless, dislocated at the shoulder, to Inuyasha, laying face down, a crimson stain spreading through his snowy locks. 

"She won't, my pet, she's a hunter, a taijya. That means she can't kill people, only demons." Pausing to kiss his hostage's temple in mocking tenderness, his voice became low, seductive, gentle. "Sango, dear, put the sword down, or I will kill her. My tanuki already has the shards. Kirara might be able to keep up with him, but not for long. And she won't be able to beat him" 

The spring sun soaked into the hunter's back, the bitter, coppery smell of human and hanyou blood mixing with the gentle sweetness of new grass and cherry blossoms in her nose. She had willed the pain in her strong arm into the back of her mind, along with the pain in her heart. She balanced on the balls of her feet, ready to lunge, praying that a beneficent kami would guide her hand, watching his strong, slender, beautiful body for any signs of action. "I will kill you, if you hurt her. You might even kill me if we battle. But Inuyasha will hunt you till the end of time. You know this." 

His handsome face blanked in concentration for a moment as he considered he words, his eyes studying her as a mongoose would a serpent. Breathing deeply, drinking in the wonderful scent of Kagome's hair, feeling the girl's wonderfully bare legs against his own, he weighed the odds. "Sango-love, you are right. Kill the mongrel- take his head; you and I both know about hanyou healing. If you don't," his pause was marked by tightening his grip, the tension bringing an unwilling whimper of pain and terror from Kagome's throat. 

"Ppleease, Sango, stop him. It isn't your fault, it will be his, please, don't worry about me." Tears sliding silently down her cheek's, Kagome's eye's met her friend's, pleadingly, before she shut them, not wanting Sango to see her fear, the fear that robbed the warrior of her will. _I'll be all right, Sango. Maybe it was supposed to happen this way._ "Take care of Shippou for me." 

"How touching, a mother's love. Go, Sango, kill the halfbreed and tend to the child. Let him remind you of the child you never gave me. I will miss your lovely bottom, I truly will." Starting to back towards the edge of the clearing, the wild young man moved slowly enough for the girl in his arms to stumble back with him. Kagome couldn't talk, not how her head was being held, could barely breath, whimpering as she silently said good bye to those closest to her. "Don't worry, I'll let her go, when I'm safe, and done with her. She will come to no harm." 

He lifted his head, his long hair slithering under Kagome's collar like a serpent as he called to the unconscious form of Inuyasha. "Don't worry about your bitch, dog-boy, I'll take good care of her. Better than you ever could." Smiling, his eyes locked with Sango's, taunting her. 

"Let her go, and face me. You do yourself no honor with a hostage. You beat the Jewel's first guardian, and it's second. Fight me, alone, and take it as the spoils of war." Sango edged forward, following the handsome rouge she once would have died for, and now was convincing herself that she could kill. 

"'Honor' is an empty shell that the nobles use to hide their decadence, love, you know that. I'm a thief, a liar and a cheat. Don't waste your air on honor." His lips curled back, sneering at thoughts of honor. "Now, kill the fucking mutt, or I will kill her." 

_Oh, please, kami, don't make me do this. I can not be sure of not killing Kagome. If there is no other way, let my thrust take her quickly, painlessly. And let him suffer for it._ Sango shifted her weight slightly, her senses at their highest, nearly rivaling Inuyasha's. Her ears guided her eyes to a rustling bush, for less than a heartbeat, but long enough to be seen by the normally charming man who had changed to a villain. 

"Oh, please, not that old trick. Really, Sango, what do you take me for? A child?" His voice mocked her, lashed at her soul with it's gentleness and cruelty, rending her shattered heart further. 

Silently as a deer, albeit an old one, Keade's shoulders and head parted the bushes, her bow strung, ready. Shippou clung to her leg, a thin stream of blood oozing from his lower lip, where his young fang had pierced it, trying to silence his hammering heart. He bit harder to keep from gasping as he saw his adopted mother, her life hostage to one he had come to trust, while his claws dug into his palms. _No, not again. She can't die again._

Breathing out slowly, ignoring the mocking voice of the young man, Kaede stretched her miko abilities out, laying the path of her arrow. Slowly, creeping it up on him, knowing that if she moved too fast his senses might feel her presence. Between the beat of her heart, and that of her now-enemy, the ash shaft slipped free of it's own will, it's steel head sinking into the shoulder of the boy, biting into the joint, feeding on the bone. With a bellow of pain and rage, he released his hostage, whirling to face the attack from behind. 

"You, old woman, how dare you. I will be as a kami when I have the Shikon no Ta...." His stormy eyes blazed in their madness, as he raised his hand to the elderly miko and the young kitsune, when his back flared in agony, causing the grey orbs to bulge and widen. 

Using the opening, Sango had leapt, nearly landing on her friend as she brought her sword down. The edge, which she had spent so much time tending to, split her past love's flesh like a bird through air. Her back seared her mind when she felt his blood, spilling like her's had when Kohaku had nearly killed her, from the very spot she had been wounded. The gasp of pain from her enemy's strong lips echoed in her ears, mixing with those of her brother when the lord's guards had released their arrows. 

Dropping her sword, letting it clatter, Sango dug her working hand into the heavy black fabric at her foe's back, catching him. She fell to her knees, kneeling beside the coughing and choking form of Kagome, cradling their assailant in her arms, facing him. Her eyes followed the arrow to his flesh, that night of her past melding and mixing with the waking nightmare of the moment. She was holding her brother, and the man she could have spent her life with, both at once, feeling both of their blood on her skin. 

"Why? Why did you do it?" 

Gasping, gapping like a landed fish, his eyes hardened for one last storm. "Revenge... revenge of a broken heart..." Coughing, once, twice, his blood splashing past his lips, to paint her face. "You broke..." Closing his eyes, his face drained of the malice it was never meant to hold, returning to the innocence it had shown only in his sleep, his last breath pure, kind, gentle. "love..." 

Holding his head in her lap, Sango pressed her forehead to his, the tears of the past day's horror ripping out of her soul, racking her body with sobs. She couldn't feel a thing, but she knew that Kagome had wrapped her arms about her, the younger girl holding her friend as their tears mixed, washing the dirt, desperation, blood, pain, sweat and hate from his handsome face. 

_"Why?"_

No one could answer that, not even the wind as it shook the new leaves and batted at Inuyasha's slowly twitching ears. The blossoms landed on the fallen and the lost, like a soft, scented snow. 

--- 

Author's notes:  
*holding Sango's hand in mine, running a cool, damp cloth over her forehead while her eyes stare blankly at the ceiling, seemingly dead but for a painfully slow and shallow flexing of her nostrils* 

Don't you want to know how this happened? Then await the beginning of this tale in peace. Until we return to this point in time, lay your spears and swords aside, I beg of you. *bowing, before pulling the white fur higher over Sango, trying to hide the baboon's head at the edge of it* 

**Tanuki:** A raccoon youkai, like Hachi, Miroku's buddy. (Actually, from what I've learned, the real tanuki aren't 'coons at all, but directly tied to canines, and a wonderfully appropriate companion for the hentai houshi. Check it out: .) 

**Major side note:** Does ANYONE know the date that Highlander was released to theatres in Japan? A thanks in the appropriate fic to the person who can answer that question. *thinks about Sesshomaru singing "Princes of the Universe" as a lullaby to Rin to put her to sleep* 


	2. Hunter's Heart Chapter 1: Who

Hunter's Heart (Chapter 1: Who?)   
by IronRaven 

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama. 

We know that Sango just killed the man she had once loved, and that shards had been stolen by his companion tanuki. Would you like to find out more? :) 

--- 

"So, bozou, what did you do this time? She didn't even slap you." 

"I did nothing." 

"Sure, Miroku. Just like every other time you did nothing." 

Ignoring the agreeing males, Kagome brushed the dust from her hair. Kirara's abrupt take off had sprayed the others with dirt and gravel. Her thoughts switched to her friend, wondering why she had taken off like that, and to Shippou, who had wandered ahead of the others, examining the many signs of spring. Past the boy, lay the village that Sango had mysteriously left to check out from above. 

_Even if the leaves aren't all out yet, at least it is pretty._

"Inuyasha, you know I said nothing, and did nothing, you were between us the entire time." 

"Feh! You were thinking something though." 

Shippou paused before a cluster of shrubs. Something smelt good. Very good. Smoke, sure, a ways off, but this was sweet, and close. Dropping to his hands and knees, the boy looked under the plants, spotting the source of the delicious scent. "Hey, guys, anyone want some honey? There is a bee hive here, and somehow it made it through the winter!" 

Sniffing the air, Inuyasha looked around. _Honey? It's too early for the bees to have any, and anything left over winter would have been... Old smoke... _"Shippou, don't touch it! It's a trap!" Tessaiga sprang from its scabbard to punctuate his words, flowing into it's true form, but the warning was too late. 

The snare closed around the kit's wrist when he tugged at the promised sweetness, lifting him from his feet with a shriek of surprise. Nearly as one, Kagome and Miroku shouted the boy's name, running towards him. Inuyasha covered the same ground with a leap, but he went into the trees at the roadside, seeking the scent of their ambusher. _That's pine smoke, but there are no pines here._

Diving into the nearest thicket of ash and cherry, Inuyasha chased the source of the scent. Behind him, Shippou had just used a splash of fox fire to burn through the rope holding him from the ground, and he clung to Kagome. Several meters away, Miroku scanned the bushes, ready to slash with the head of his shajuko, or to rip away the covers around the kazaana. He took one step towards the break that the hanyou had formed, when the stand of saplings exploded into a flying mass of splinters, shorn branches and a hanyou, forcing the three on the road to duck. 

Inuyasha slid to a stop on his feet, snarling at the pain of having been the missile that had blown through the trees. "If that's how you want to play it, then...." 

"Yes, thief, it is. I am being paid to bring you to the people you stole from." The speaker was a wraith, a shadow, moving with almost unnatural speed. Shippou blinked as he tried to identify the foe. Whatever it was, it was all black, and it smelled human. The only humans who were that fast were miko and houshi. And Sango. 

"Hey, Miroku, I think the man wants to talk to you. You're the only thief we've got." With that single jibe at his friend, and a lop sided grin, the dog demon jumped back towards his foe, the great sword beginning a mighty blow at the shadow. The black form blocked the strike with it's own sword, as long as Tessaiga, but not as thick. The two fighters leaned into their blades, trying to force the other off balance. 

"No, halfbreed, I come for you and all your party. Where is the other one, the ronin?" leaping back to escape Inuyasha's kick at his feet, the shadowy voice entered the sunlit road between Kagome and Miroku. He was dressed in the battlesuit of a taijya, his armour purest black where Sango's was coral. He wore the scabbard of a no-dachi across his back, the weapon in his hand, with a wakazashi at his waist, along with a few small pouches. His hair was a long braid of raven, and he possessed a lean runner's body. Above the mask were strong, calm eyes the color of a thunder cloud at twilight. Unfortunately for him, he landed within a few strides of Miroku. 

"Sango is a lady of deepest integrity and honor, taijya. She is not a thief." Swiping the head of his staff into the backs of their attacker's right knee, the monk's jaw was set in determination and indignation. From his new position on his back, the hunter grabbed for the shakujo, pulling the monk off balance, and driving the pommel of the massive sword into his belly. As the hunter sprang to his feet, Miroku fell to his knees, fighting to breath and to not retch. 

But that was all the time that needed for Inuyasha to reach him. A clawed white hand grabbed a handful of black armour, throwing the fighter into a tree with a dull thump. With the Tessaiga already raised, there was no chance for their enemy not to be cleaved into two pieces, unless Inuyasha checked his stoke. 

Or unless something large an heavy struck his blade, such as the hairikitsu. The massive bone weapon flew between the hunter and the hanyou, tearing their weapons from their grasp, the two swords landing in the brother of the bush that had ensnared Shippou. 

"Inuyasha, stop! I will talk to him!" With a spray of dirt and wood chips, Kirara landed close, allowing Sango to get between the combatants. Pushing them both in their chests, the masked hunter put Inuyasha back, and pinned the stranger to the tree. She turned to their enemy, flexing her arm to bare the blades hidden in her sleeve. "Who are you? You wear the garb of my people! I am the last, imposter!" 

"Sango? Is that you?" 

"He's lying Sango, Miroku said your name!" Kagome lowered her hand to silence Shippou, while the miko hoped that there would be no blood shed. Her friends' drawn weapons made her think it was unlikely. 

"No, boy, I have known Sango for many years." Reaching up to lower his mask, he bared a face hardened by battle and weathered by the sun, but still youthful, about the same age as Miroku. A trio of long, raking scar streaked the right side of his face from ear to chin, the reminder of a set of claws. 

"But you left years ago... I thought you were dead...." Any further words on his part were trapped in his chest as Sango hugged him tight, a look of relief on her face, knowing she was not the last one, that at least one other hunter survived. She clung to him, burying her face into his neck, trying to stay afloat as memories of simpler, happier times crashed down on her like a tsunami.

Finding her voice, Kagome broke the silence. "I guess they know each other." Looking from the new exterminator to Miroku, she was struck by how much alike they looked. _They could be brothers. They look more alike than Kikyou and I do._

Raising his face from her shoulder, the mysterious young man swept his grey eyes across the party. "Hai. My name is Kiyoshi. I am Sango's betrothed." 

At those words, the universe seemed to stop. Everyone froze, staring, mouths open in shock. Even the birds seemed stunned into silence by his claim. In such a quiet, one could hear the ring of a dropped pin. 

Or the pieces of a houshi's shattered heart. _Betrothed?_

--- 

Author's notes:   
*passes Miroku a bottle of whiskey* This will ease the pain, or at least replace it for a while, kid. 

If you let smoke cover your scent, you are less likely to disturb animals, as it will cover the smell of you being human. It was used the same way to cover the scent of human hands on traps. Problem is that the scent clings to you, while smoke from a fire flows and spreads. Good thing that most animals don't have logical thinking.

**Kiyoshi**: means purity  
**No-dachi**: Basically a katana on steroids. Big-assed sword designed to reach guys up on horses and/or take out the horses' legs.   
**Ningen**: human  
**Ronin**: "Wave man"; a masterless samurai who lived without honor, surviving as mercenaries and bandits. Technically, Inuyasha is a ronin. And a hanyou one at that, so he had all the rights in that era that a blade of grass did. 


	3. Hunter's Heart Chapter 2: What

Hunter's Heart (Chapter 2: What?)   
by Ironraven 

Discalimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama. 

*bows to Lachesis-san, my editor* 

A strange man in the armour of a taijya has appeared, claiming to be named Kiyoshi. Sango clearly knows him. And quiet well- he as introduced himself as her betrothed. 

--- 

Kagome was the first to find her voice. "Betrothed? Sango? When did this happen?" 

Shippou slipped from her arms, his eyes wide as the male hunter's hands slid lower in the hug, moving in the direction that had earned the monk a dented skull so many times. Inuyasha studied the man with the eyes of a fighter, looking for hidden weapons and weaknesses. Sango was a mighty fighter, but for all her strength, she did not heave the upper body strength under the tightly stretched chest of his battlesuit. Kirara rubbed against the hanyou, her eyes slitted, maybe from the bright sun, maybe from her memories. 

Poor Miroku could only stand there, dumstruck, as he now knew what his father's last moments felt like. But it was not his hand that was swallowing him, but his heart, sucking in his being, compressing it into nothingness. The dreams that had kept him going for the past years were being torn apart, like paintings under this man's, this Kiyoshi's, sword. Dreams of Sango naked, to be sure, but also dreams of perfect children, old age without being alone, of peace and happiness. Dreams of Sango's smile, of her eyes no longer filled with fear, or doubt, or pain. Of hearing her laugh in it's purest, without worry or hesitation. Of Sango sleeping through the night, rather than being on gaurd at all times, of her relaxed, at peace, with him him at her side. Swallowed by the void in his heart. Despite the warmth of the spring sun, he shivered, feeling cold. _So this is how Kagome feels._

Releasing the phantom from her past, Sango stepped back, looking him over, her voice even, with a hint of coldness to it. "Not any more, baka. Not for a long time." 

"Sango..." 

"This is not the time for the discussion you want to have. I will tell you when the time is right." 

"Sango love, I went to make peace with your father, and you, but the village..." Reaching down to take her hand in his, Kiyoshi continued, "I could only assume that you were dead as well. You and Kirara, who else survived?" 

"No one. The taijya were lured away and ambushed, and then village was attacked." 

"We found the village shortly after the attack. The gates had been opened from within. There was no way anyone could have survived." Sheathing his sword, Inuyasha thought back to the village, and the days immediately afterwards. Fighting and healing Sango, learning of Kohaku's fate, discovering the origions of the jewel. "All we could do was give them a decent burial." 

"I thank you, hanyou." Turning his head to face Inuyasha, cocked slightly so that his left side was a little closer, Kiyoshi could easily read the annoyed flick of the ears. "May I know your name?" 

"Inuyasha." 

Letting go of Sango, the taijya smiled as he sketched a short bow to the dog demon. "THE Inuyasha? I am honored, we must do this again sometime. For fun." 

_'THE Inuyasha'? What the hell does that mean?_ "Feh. Your funeral." 

With a smile, Kagome bounced over to meet the mystrey man from her friend's past. The mystery man with the hot body wrapped in clinging black armour, the rival of Inuyasha's, and the dark, smoldering eyes. "Hi, I'm Kagome, and that is Shippou." 

Kiyoshi bowed to her in greeting, staying in the low part of the bow for long time, running his eyes appreciately over Kagome's wonderfully bare legs. Kagome and Sango both blushed when they realised what he was doing, although Sango's flush may have started earlier, and Inuyasha's ears swung back. "The pleasure is mine, I asure you, lovely le... lady." 

Miroku had not yet spoken, had barely even moved since the stranger introduced himself. He managed to save enough of his dignitiy to close his mouth when Sango motioned her hand to indicate him. "And this, Taijya-kun, is Houshi-sama." 

Scowling at the strange sweetness coming from Sango, Inuyasha crossed his arms. _If she starts calling me Hanyou-san, or anything like that, I'm going to gut myself._

Kiyoshi's eye brow rose slightly at that, as if he was remembering a private joke. His bow to the monk was very formal, and very stiff. Very proper, respect taken to an extreme. As he spoke, his eyes bored into Miroku's, while his hand gripped the scabbard of his wakazashi. His stance seemed to speak volumes. _I was in her heart first, pretty boy. Remember that._ "I greet you, Houshi-sama." 

_Great, it must be a taijya tradition. You are what you do, I guess._Miroku returned the stare, his dark blue eyes locked on those of the male hunter, not blinking, not flinching. The rings of his shajuko sang as he braced the staff into the hard packed clay of the road. With every fiber of his body, he wanted to speak the thought in his mind. _Where were you when she was angry, or hurt, or sad, or cold, or hungry? I was next to her, asshole, and I didn't see you._ "And I greet you, Kiyoshi-san." 

"Feh. The hentai's name is Miroku. He doesn't need anyone else swelling his head." Inuyasha glared at the back of the new guy's head. _Great, another pervert in our midsts. Still, he is a pretty good fighter, so long as he keeps his hadns and eyes to himself._

"Inuyasha, everyone, don't be offended if Taijya-kun doesn't respond to what you say sometimes. He's deaf on the right side." With that, she pointed to Inuyasha, prompting the exterminator to turn. 

"The monk's name is Miroku." Shippou spoke up for the first time. 

"Thank you, boy." Reaching out, he ruffled Shippou's hair, smiling gently. "You are uninjured, I hope." 

As the introductions progressed, Kiyoshi gathered the trap he had set, and fetched his outer clothes from the bushes he had hidden them in. He returned with the same kind of garb he had worn back in the village, black hakima and haori over a shitagi the colour of old blood. Unlike Sango, who concealed her wakazashi, he wore his at his side, along with the massive massive blade along his back, which he informed them was named "Kataidenko". 

"I do not know how long you have been traveling, but I've been waiting since before dawn. Am I the only one who could do battle with lunch?" To the mid day meal, he offered bean curd, hard biscuits made of nut flour, and the honey he had used for bait, along with a bamboo canteen of green tea brewed strong with leaves of violets. 

"Hmmm... This is good. What did you call it, Lady Kagome?" Slurping noisily at the instant noodles, matching Inuyasha's eating habits, Kiyoshi's thumb absently stroked the sides of the foam cup. "And this cup, hot within and cool to the to the touch, amazing." 

"It's ramen. It's funny, everyone reacts to it the same way. Back home, it's cheap, fast food. And the foam is normal, even if we aren't sure of what to do with it when it's empty." 

"And where might that be? Your equipment is amazing." He had also marvelled at the slick, glass-like fabric stuff that had wrapped the cups, and the metal-and-paper disks that had somehow glued themselves to the openings. 

Sango's eyes narrowed, as she thought about the man she had once nearly wed. She coughed, and shook her head slightly once she had Kagome's eye. The younger girl quickly caught the message, as did Inuyasha. Having sat on Kiyoshi's deaf side had been a consious choice for her. 

"Uhmmm.. you wouldn't know it, it is very far away." _What is it, Sango?_ "It is far to the north. Yes, to the north." 

"Really? No matter. I would love to see your home, if how you dress is the norm." Grinning broadly, he drained the last of the ramen in his cup. "Houshi-sama, are you not going to eat your's? You haven't said a thing since we sat down, and eaten nothing, nor taken tea. I know of your mission, and those who seek the shards of the Shikon jewel must keep up thier strength." 

Passing the cooling cup of noodles and soup to the "new man", Miroku declared flatly, "I'm fasting." 

With a smirk and a shrug, Kiyoshi accepted the cup and polished it off at a slower pace, his chop sticks deftly blocking Inuyasha's when they tried to steal noodles. As the hunter and hanyou sparred, a sharp, nervous cry came from the bushes where Kiyoshi had lain in wait. 

"Wait, please, I mean you no harm. I am with Master Miroku." 

"Really? Then let him tell me." The corpulent form of Hachi was poked and prodded from the young trees by the source of the low, harsh sounding voice. From the shadows emerged a second tanuki, this one with a long, wicked looking dagger in one hand, and a kama thrust though the back of his obi. Hard and lean, his face and throat bare of fur and scarred from some ancient blaze, with the scars reapearing below the shortened sleeve of his kimono, dark green and shot through with a pattern of black lightening, under a dark grey vest. 

"Ah, Kaban, I was wondering when you would make your appearance! Be at peace, you are with friends." 

"Master Miroku, I came with...." 

"Kiyoshi-san, I caught this one sneaking about. Is he truly with your your friends?" Kaban's brow twitched, trying to raise the eyebrow that had never regrown after the fire. At the nods of those seated before him, he sheathed his dagger. At Kiyoshi's invitation, the battered tanuki sat with them, quickly popping a nut cake into his mouth. Silently, without explination, Miroku stood and walked further down the road, dragging Hachi with him. Kiyoshi began to tell how he and scarred youkai met, obviously embellishing the humor and drama of the battle after seeing Shippou's grin start. Inuyasha stole the rest of the noodles when he set down the cup of noodles to give himself two hands to gesticulate with. 

Sango sat in silence, only partially paying attention to the stories while she thought, trying to hide her eyes as she looked between the man she once loved and the man that she hoped to love. Her mind roamed the halls of memory while she watched her friend standing away from the group. Away from her. _Taiyja-kun's still charming and dedicated, even if he likes to look at us girls. I wonder if his anger has passed. If it has, then we could use him. And to have another hunter to speak with... But Houshi-sama..._

_Now I know how Inuyasha feels. Oh, kami..._

--- 

As the re-enforced party approached the village in the late afternoon, they were informed that there was an inn in the village, where Kiyoshi already had a room. He was sure that they could get a second room. Miroku thought it was a little odd to have two rooms for the party, given it's size. 

He had not partaken of the conversation during the afternoon, lost in thought. For so long, he had been pretty much alone. Yes, Mushin had always been there, and Hachi would be with him at times, but for the most part, he had been by himself. If he never showed up at Mushin's, the old monk would have lifted a bottle or ten in his memory after enough time, but that would have been it. And Hachi would have been released from his debt. Having friends wasn't somthing that had happened to him until he became part of this group. He had a mentor again, and brothers, something that he had always wondered about as a child. Well, at least one brother, and maybe a nephew. 

He had a sister. At first, thinking of Kagome as a sister had been a survival mechanism. If Inuyasha even thought another male was interested in his "not-my-woman", it would result in violence. Now, she was like a sister in his heart; a miko, yes, but still a holy woman, and with the start of being a powerful one at that. 

And he had someone he loved, rather than lusted after. If Kiyoshi stayed, could he still be a part of thier family, or would he be forced out? 

When he looked at his compitition, he had to wonder if all Sango ever saw in him was a shadow of this man. They were similiar in body, and both had long hair. As a hentai, he could see it another. The way the newest companion's eyes flicked to Kagome's legs, or across the bodies of either woman, were familiar enough. He found himself not liking it very much, and hating himself for it. The smirk, the smile, the cocky all knowing eyes. And the hands. If his hands had gone so low, he'd have been beaten soundly, but Kiyoshi had held Sango's backside for several seconds before she pushed him away. Pushed, not pummeled. Not yelled at, not cursed, no cry of 'hentai'. 

And Kagome and Shippou were both under his spell. The other man in black had pulled the kit in with his tales and stories of his adventures. And despite his roving eyes, his charm and humor had suckered in Kagome. 

"You don't trust him either, do you?" Inuyasha's voice nearly scared Miroku out of his tabi. The dog boy had been a part of the conversation when it interested him, but his attitude was stiff and distant. If you believed everything that came from the hanyou's mouth, it could only be becuase he had not been able to steal Miroku's ramen. "He's too convenient." 

"What do you mean?" 

"As good as he is, wouldn't we have heard of him by now? The hunters have all but been dead for the past couple winters, and then he shows up. He doesn't smell like Naraku or Sesshomaru, but I just don't like him." 

"Is it becuase of how he looks at Kagome's legs?" 

Inuyasha's face rotated through several emotions. The first was embarasement at having been spotted, then the usual covering up. "It ain't that. Besides, what reason do you have for not liking him other than the fact that Sango loves him?" 

"She said that that was over. I heard her, and so did you." 

"Feh, whatever. He's like you, right down to the tanuki and the roving hands, but he's a hunter. He's a link to her past. You don't have a past other than your curse." 

Miroku allowed his friend's words violently caromed around in his mind for a while, finding them more and more disturbing with every examination. He had no past, no family. Not even a holy order, just an old drunkard. And he had no future. Even if he didn't die and his hand was cured, would he be a help or a hinderance for Sango? She'd have to protect him from their enemies, like he was a child or an old man. He was finally broken from his internal debate by running into Inuyasha's back. 

"What the hell does that mean? 'No youkai or gijen allowed'?" 

In front of them, an old man with a battered and pitted yari stood at the entry way to the inn. "Just what the sign says, freak. Your kind ain't wanted." 

Kagome put her hand on the silver-haired youth's shoulder, talking quietly to him. "Inuyasha, we don't want any trouble. It will be ok- his sign didn't say anything about sleeping in the trees across the road. Please. It might be good for Miroku and Kiyoshi to get to know each other, and I need to talk to Sango." 

"Feh!" 

"I'll bring back more Ramen than you can eat in one meal next time I go back to my own time if you do." 

"And if I don't?" 

"Sssiii..." 

"Alright, alright, I'll do it. Keep your flea infested rooms to yourself, jijii!" Turning, he grabbed Shippou's ear, pulling the younger demon along. "Come on, runt. At least we won't be stuck inside with human stench." 

--- 

In their room, Miroku sat in meditation while Kiyoshi ran a stone over his blades, silently, effortlessly making sure each was sharper than a razor, and reflected light like a mirror. When the exterminator was done, he used the blade of the Kataidenko to flick the light of the lantern back forth across the closed eyelids of the monk. 

"You don't like me very much, do you, Houshi-sama?" 

Opening his eyes, Miroku glared at him. As a buddist monk, he promised that he would take life only in defense, or for food. Right now, making a soup of the other man seemed like a good idea. "Why does that matter? Sango likes you." 

"She did, but I left her life many years ago, Houshi-sama. Are you afraid of loosing her?" 

"She is her own person. She can choose to spend her time with whomever she wishes. Like myself, she is free to leave our party at any time." Closing his eyes, he leaned back, the bitter truth of what he had just said rising in his throat. 

"Then you would not object if I resumed my relation with her, Houshi-sama? That is very noble of you." 

"Why do you do that? It's odd when she calls me that, but from you it is infuriating." 

"It is what she calls you, and it is her way. Once, I was Taijya-sama. Now I am Taijya-kun, and you are Houshi-sama. And there were times when I was Hentai-sama." Leaning back with a dirty grin, Kiyoshi thought back. 

Eyes but slits, Miroku knew that if he had ears like Inuyasha's or Shippou's, they would be laying flat. With a voice little more than a dangerous growl, he spoke. "What do you mean, 'Hentai-sama'?" 

--- 

Author's notes:   
So that is Kiyoshi. Is it just me, or does it seem like Miroku doesn't like the new hunter? When driven by the fear of loosing love, men do strange things, things that they would never do in their right mind.... 

**Shitagi**: The under robe worn under the haori and over the fundoshi.   
**Kama**: Sickle, like what Kohaku carries, but without the chain.   
FYI, Kiyoshi's sword's name is **katai-denko**, and means, roughly, Iron-Lightening. 

Most nuts that have a low fat content can be roasted, and then pounded into flour, particularly acorns. Very high in protein and minerals, lasts a long time, and when mixed with water, a little fat, and baked hard, makes good travel food. Not as tough as our "hard tack", but you won't break your teeth on it either, and it isn't bad with honey on it. As for violet leaves in green tea, it is quite good, and contains many water-soluble vitamins. Use the new leaves of the purple or white varieties (NOT the yellow ones - as lot of people react to those), gathered away from roadsides, dumps, septic leach fields, farms, or any other form pollutions source, rinse, and let them dry until they are brittle. Rub them to powder in your fingers. Mix it 50/50 with loose green tea, maybe with a little dried mint prepared the same way, and brew as you would normally. As always, try at your own risk, some people are allergic to the stangest things. 


	4. Hunter's Heart Chapter 3: Where

Hunter's Heart (Chapter 3: Where?)   
by Ironraven   
editorial assistance by Lachesis-chan 

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama. 

Rated a little higher because of sexual innuendo, lies, heart break, and some desires of violence. 

Miroku isn't just jealous, he may be homicidal at this point. 

--- 

"What do you mean, 'Hentai-sama'?" Miroku's jaw clenched so hard his teeth hurt, as he felt the anger inside him welling up. _She called you 'Hentai-sama'? You lying, honorless toad! Take it back if you wish to live!_

Blinking in surprise, Kiyoshi leaned close to the monk, his elbows resting on his knees. "You mean you've not made her feel like a woman? I'm shocked. She is quite uninhibited, and very vocal at the right times. She would shout out that name when I..." 

Miroku could see the man's lips moving, knew he was saying something, but he couldn't hear it. He could hear nothing but the screaming of his soul, the pain painting the world red. He started to reach for the beads on his hand, to rip them away and suck the bastard into whatever realm the kazaana emptied into. He hoped that whatever was spat out lived long enough to die shrieking in agony. 

--- _(several minutes earlier)_

Kirara dosed in her large form, curled up against the door to the village bathhouse, blocking it from being opened, while she basked in the last rays of the sun. Cleansing steam rose and swirled in the small building, stirred by the cooler air filtering in through panels of thick cloth set in the wall. 

"So?" 

"'So', what, Kagome-chan?" 

"So why didn't you tell me about Kiyoshi earlier?" 

"He was something from my past. And you never asked." 

"I'm asking now. What happened? He's pretty good looking." Smiling oddly, Kagome reflected on this, one of the few times she'd ever been able to gossip and talk "girl talk" with Sango. 

Sango sank into the wooden tub, the water settling just below her nose as she glared at Kagome. 

"Oh, please, what happened. He said he had to make up with your out-san. What happened, you get caught doing something you shouldn't have? Oh, kami, you didn't!" Sango's flush was more than enough answer, the embarrassed girl slinking lower, up to her eyes. "It isn't worth trying to drown yourself over." 

Neither girl blinked, staring at each other, the warm water lapping at Sango's cheekbone for long seconds, before Kagome spoke again. "Alright, you can hold your breath for a long time. You have to come up at some point." 

Finally relenting, Sango raised her head, the blush still blazing bright. "There is more than that, Kagome." 

"You mean... You got..." Looking pointedly down at her friend's belly, Kagome could only blink while her mouth tried to close. "No..." 

"No! Kagome! You are almost as bad as Houshi-sama is, you know that?" Splashing her friend with a handful of water, the hunter brought the conversation to something a little less embarrassing. "He got an idea, not a very good one. There are other clans like the Taijya, others who spy or kill for money." 

A scowl spread across the hunter's face as she scrubbed her sore feet. "He thought we could unite with those clans, and use our combined magic and combat prowess to bring peace to the land." 

"What's so bad about that." 

"He would have us enslave those who were not part of our clique, and slay those who opposed us." Sighing, she continued, half talking to herself, "He wasn't always like that. It was one of our first hunts that brought him to that twisted idea. A noble man had been using youkai to terrify his vassals into submission, and used the threat as an excuse to increase his demands for rice and iron and everything else. One of the villagers came to us with the tale, and Taijya-kun and I went to help. He was ready to kill the daimyo." 

"After that, he just got crazier. Towards the end, he proposed his idea to the older hunters. It wasn't a new one, it had been suggested at least once a generation for as long as we knew, usually over a jar of sake. And it would be mostly forgotten the next morning. But he was obsessed with it. We finally found him meeting with someone from another clan. He had promised her to trade the secrets of our alchemy for her people's support with the other clans. He had dreams of seizing the Court in Kyoto, hundreds of men and women in black attacking in the night, slaughtering all those who fought, of a moat of blood to great the dawn." Sango shuddered at the thought. "He challenged my out. He should have died, but I begged my father to spare him. Taijya-kun was banished." 

"Is that why you didn't want him to know about the well?" 

"Hai. You never talk about it, but if men are still men, then there are still wars. The medicines, the food, the cold torches, your time has so many wonders. Would you also have not thought of better ways to kill?" 

Images from television and history books flashed through Kagome's mind, turning her stomach. Hiroshima. The Holocaust. Nerve gas. Machine guns. Land mines. Fire bombs. Germ warfare. Assignation and terror. Massacres of thousands. "Not better. Just more efficient. We use machines to kill each other in my time, makes it less personal, easier to kill by the thousands. Some of our weapons are smart enough to kill on their own, and they don't always fight other machines." 

_By the thousands?_ Sango gulped as she climbed from the tub, reaching for her towel. _I take it back, I don't want to see your world Kagome._ "And if Kiyoshi was to get his hands on those weapons?" 

As they dressed, Kagome's mind tried to imagine it. One man with a machine gun could hold off any army of this era, so long as he had ammunition. The thought of hundreds of men, trained such as Sango and Kiyoshi, armed with her time's weapons made her shudder. _Change the subject, Kagome._

"Sango?" 

"Hmm?" 

"Why do you call him 'Taijya-kun'?" 

--- 

Miroku's cursed hand clenched close, keeping him from freeing the void within as his oath checked him. Not his one to Buddha, but his one to Sango. If he killed the son of a bitch, it would hurt her. 

He spun to his feet, snatching his staff from its resting place, as he stormed towards the front door. He nearly knocked down Sango and Kagome, their hair still wet from the bath house as he passed through the common room, and slammed the door behind him hard enough to shake the building. 

Across the street, Shippou and Kirara turned to look at him, then shrank back when they saw the rage on his face. Inuyasha leapt from the tree branch he had perched in, shouting something at him. But his mind was still howling. All he knew was he had to leave. 

Now. Right now, before he regretted it. He had to go. Far away. 

Standing in the doorway, the panel hanging crazily, Sango stared as the night swallowed him in darkness. Shippou was sitting in the dirt, stunned, unsure of what he had just seen, while Inuyasha called out to the monk. Behind her, Kagome was questioning Kiyoshi, her voice shaky. But the exterminator couldn't hear any of it. 

_I've never seen anyone so angry. Oh, Houshi-sama, what happened to you._ She sank to her knees as the innkeeper's voice was added to the din, demanding to know what was happening in his establishment. Distantly she saw the red and white mass of Inuyasha moving to follow the monk. 

--- 

Inuyasha had known how fast Miroku could run, but this was faster than he'd ever seen the bozou move before. His lungs were laboring, long hair streaming as he caught up with his friend. "Miroku, what the hell is wrong with you!" 

The monk's face was streaked with tears, a look of blind hopelessness on his face as he continued to run, automatically avoiding every rock and stump in his way. He didn't look at Inuyasha, nor did he speak; he moved like a man possessed, seeing but not seeing. The exterminator's words mocked him, 'Hentai-sama'. 

"Damnit, bouzo, I'm talking to you." Still they ran into the night, startling a doe and her fawn as they crossed a stream, their feet barely even touching the bottom. "I've owed you this for a long time, monk!" 

Distantly, as if it were happening to someone else, Miroku felt something brush his head. Hard. Something white. It had hit hard enough to make his head swim, and his eyes to unfocused for a moment. Just long enough to trip over his own feet. He sprawled on the forest floor, crushing old leaves and new ferns under his body, sobbing. Inuyasha crouched next to him, panting as he tried to catch his breath, not looking at the other man until the sounds of pain ebbed. 

--- 

Sensing movement close behind her, the hunter turned, finding herself face to face to her once lover. "What did you do to Houshi-sama?" 

"Nothing, we were just talking." 

"About what, Taijya-kun?" 

"Traveling, demon hunting, our travels, comparing things." As he spoke, Kiyoshi's eyes dropped, running over Sango's damp hair, watching it cling to her breasts, starting to smile. "All kinds of things." 

"HENTAI!" A simple blow sent those eyes to the ground. A simple blow landed with a knee, something that Sango had never done to Miroku. Never even thought of doing. Sango stepped over the male at her feet, stiffly walking to the room she was sharing with Kagome, ignoring the land lord. 

When they reached the sanctuary of their room, Sango sat in the corner, glaring at the door. "They're all dogs." 

"Sango?" 

"Men, they are all dogs. Slavering at us like we were raw meat. What were they doing, comparing conquests?!" 

"If they were doing that, why was Miroku so angry? And not all men are dogs." The time traveler flushed furiously. _He's only ever peeped once or twice, and he's never groped me. Ok, so he could stand to learn so manners, but he isn't that bad. Other than having a thing for dead girls._

--- 

"You, you hit me, Inuyasha." 

"Feh! That was for groping Kagome." _So it was a couple years coming, so what._ "It was the only way to get to you, monk." 

"I'm sorry." 

"Save it; tell me what's wrong. It isn't your hand, is it?" Miroku shook his head, nodded, then shook it again. "Oh, that's real helpful." 

"I wanted to use it." His head down, his voice miserable, Miroku looked small, lost. "I wanted to use it on Kiyoshi." He started talking, babbling everything to Inuyasha. 

"When started talking about her like _that_, it made me angry. 'Hentai-sama'! How dare he talk about Sango like that. I wanted to kill him, slowly, painfully. He was bragging about... about being with her." 

"Feh. Why didn't you kill him?" 

"No. It would make me like... a monster." 

They both sat there, the thin light of the moon just rising above the horizon, as they thought in silence. 

"So what are you going to do?" 

"What can I do? She loves him." 

"She said that was long time ago." 

"Sure, like Kikyou was." Turning his back to his friend, the monk stared into the dark forest, almost wishing for something to eat him. 

"What the hell does that mean? Kikyou has nothing to do with this." 

"Really? Then ask Kagome." 

"You're talking in riddles, Miroku. Make some sense." 

"He and I look alike. We act alike." Lowering his head, the monk's voice was small and distant. "But you said it, he's a hunter. He's from her village. He has her training, her history. I have no history, no future, just my hand. I have nothing she'd want. I can't give her a home, a family. He can." 

"So what? Come on, go back there, make a show of kicking his ass." 

"He almost fought you to a stand still." 

"You came closer." 

"Thank you." 

"For what." 

"That is the greatest compliment I've ever been given." 

--- 

"What do you mean you are throwing us out? Where are we going to sleep?" 

"I don't care! Join your demon friends in the trees. I knew you were trouble from the start. Youkai and ronin and... And..." Swallowing hard, the old man glanced down, before glaring into Kagome's eyes. "And women dressed so indecently. I run an honorable inn, not a brothel!" 

--- 

"Feh! Come on, the night's getting older. I'm gonna get sat if I don't bring you back." 

"No, Inuyasha. If I'm around, I'll do something horrible to him." 

"So you are going to run? That's so very brave and noble, bozou. Is that what you want me to tell Sango? That you ran away?" 

"You can't goad me that easily, Inuyasha." 

"Fine, what do you want me to tell her?" _Oh, wonderful, now I'm a message boy._

"Tell her it was my hand, please, Inuyasha, and that I'm gone." 

"Are you sure?" 

In a flat, hollow, toneless voice, barely audible, Miroku made up his mind. "Hai." 

Standing slowly, Inuyasha fished through the fold of his robes for a small pouch of coins, and several bandages, along with a tiny box of matches from Kagome's time. "Here. Don't go far, we may need you when we face Naraku for the last time." Placing the meager supplies by the monk's side, Inuyasha turned to go. "Goodbye, Miroku. I want that stuff back when you return." 

_Sayonara, ani._

--- 

After a long walk, alone and silent, Inuyasha returned to the town. Kiyoshi sat on one side of the tree, while Sango sat on the other, sandwiched between Kagome and Kirara. Shippou was sitting awake, waiting. 

In a quiet whisper, the boy asked the question of the evening. "We got thrown out. Where is he?" 

"He's gone." Doing his best to make his voice flat and tired, Inuyasha sat down before Sango. 

"Inuyasha, was it his hand?" The lady hunter's eyes were swollen and red, as were Kagome's. 

Inuyasha lowered his head, letting his hair hide his face. _I can't do it monk, I can't tell her that._ But his silence spoke for him. 

"No, Houshi-sama...." Wrapping herself around the smaller girl, fresh sobs tore into Sango's body. She had cried like this when Inuyasha forgave her, and welcomed her into the band. She had cried like this from realizing that her home and her family were gone. She had cried like this when she learned Kohaku's fate. And it was happening again. Everything she'd worked for, everything she had fought for, was becoming undone again. "No..." 

Lifting her head from Kagome's shoulder, Sango threw her head back, eyes streaming as she howled his name to the stars. "MIROKU!!" 

Watching them cry, listening to their sobs, Inuyasha could almost believe the monk was gone. _Damn you, bozou.___

--- 

Well outside of town, past the pastures and the patties, through the forest, her wail was clear. "MIROKU!!" 

The shriek of agony, torn from the depth's of her soul, echoed over the land, lashing at him. He simply sat there, his hand beating a boulder. Again and again, his fist landed on the immobile, innocent granite. Even after he heard something crack in his knuckles, he attacked the stone, his hand grinding with each blow.... 

--- 

Author's note:   
Oh yes, Miroku, running away is so brave. How low will he go people, to prove himself worthy? 

**Ani**: brother 


	5. Hunter's Heart Chapter 4: When

Hunter's Heart (Chapter 4: When?)   
by Ironraven   
editorial assistance by Lachesis-chan 

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama. 

Last time we looked, Miroku had just run away into the night, with murder on his mind. Inuyasha may have knocked some sense into him, but the monk has still faked his death. 

--- 

Two days had passed since Miroku had disappeared into the night. Sango had moved slowly, painfully, not speaking for the first day after arguing with Inuyasha about seeing where Miroku's void had swallowed him. The hanyou's stubbornness beat out her grief, insisting that he had been told not to let her see the crater by the monk as he disappeared. 

Stumbling, Sango followed her friends, refusing to be helped, even by Kirara. Kagome spoke little, aching inside as she watched her friend's world crumble into dust yet again. Shippou walked at Sango's side, he and Kirara ready to catch the huntress if she couldn't recover from her fall, as he tried not to sniffle. Even Inuyasha, so brash and boisterous was subdued as he led the group in near silence. Kiyoshi took up the rear, respectfully silent, sitting away from the others as they ate, not trying to start conversion. 

On the second day, they found the shards they had heard rumors of, four of them. Conveniently lodged in the body of a bear demon. The beast towered above them, his knees on eye level to the searchers, a massive, crazed beast, covered in long, matted fur. 

"Inuyasha, go high; I'll go low! Kataidenko!" Kiyoshi pulled his no-dachi from it's sheath across it's back, running towards the demon as it reared up, bellowing. 

"Don't give me orders!" Despite his protest, Inuyasha could see Kiyoshi's plan. The hunter would cut the beast's feet out from under it, while Inuyasha went for the head. His blade taking it's true form, Inuyasha leapt skyward. 

Behind and below them, Sango slid the Hairikitsu from her shoulder, holding it at the ready. But she could not throw, not yet. As she watched, the two blades bit into the demon in unison, cutting muscle and tendon at knee and shoulder. With a pained howl, the giant ball of lethal fur tried to strike at both enemies at once. 

Stepping into his foe, Kiyoshi thrust up, into it's belly, while Inuyasha slashed down it's back. Almost before his feet were on the ground, he jumped away. Kiyoshi dropped to one side, rolling sideways as he pulled his steel free, coming to his feet alongside the panting hanyou. 

"Hairikitsu!!" Putting all of the grief and anger she could into the throw, Sango launched the boomerang with an explosive grunt. It slammed into the beast nearly vertical, crashing though it's breast bone, shattering it's skull on the return. Sango caught the weapon as it sought it's home in her hand, but the force combined with her exhaustion staggered her, sending her to one knee. 

"Sango! Are you ok?" Kagome knelt at her friend's side, ready to try to drag the grieving warrior if the demon charged them. Kirara, in her large form, crouched before the girls, hissing and spitting, as the bear fell like a puppet with its strings cut. 

Sango fought her way to her feet, shaking Kagome off. "Kirara, get out of the way!" With that warning, she threw her weapon again, letting it walk up the bear's spine, shattering everything it touched. The male hunter and the hanyou leapt out of the way, the massive bone cleaving the air where they had stood a moment before. 

"Hey! Watch it, Sango!" Glaring at her as she was again dropped by the impact of her returning weapon, Inuyasha stayed in a crouch until she dropped the weapon, hugging her knees to herself, rocking. 

"She needs this, Inuyasha. Let her be, neither of us were hurt." Flicking the filth from his blade, Kiyoushi approached the bear wearily. "Think it's truly dead?" 

"Yeah, it's dead. For now- we need to get those shards." 

Nodding, the dark haired warrior followed the white haired one, drawing a long, slender throwing knife from his sleeve. With blade and claw, the two soon dug out the shards. One had been lodged in it's lower leg, just above where Kiyoshi had first cut, while the others were in it's brow. "From what I've heard of the shards, this is a lot in one demon, isn't it?" 

"Yeah. Naraku must have been behind this." Pulling the other shard from the hunter's hand, Inuyasha dropped it in his palm with the others. Quietly, he walked to Kagome's side, nudging her shoulder. When she looked up, he pressed the shards into her palm, saying nothing of the white-robed fiend. _Only Naraku has that many shards. But why wasn't it after us, then?_

--- 

Atop a tree. some ways away, Hachi watched the battle. "Oh, they made that look easy." 

At the bottom of the tree, seated meditatively, Miroku drew a ragged breath. _Yeah, I bet Kiyoshi was a big help._ "What are they doing now, Hachi?" 

"Lady Sango is kneeling- I hope she didn't hurt herself with that weapon of her's. Lady Kagome is with her." Shading his keen eyes with his hands, the tanuki youkai peered at the little knot of figures in the distance. "It looks like Master Inuyasha and the other guy are talking." 

_ 'The other guy'. I guess I'm not the only one who dislikes Kiyoshi._ "Any other signs of trouble?" 

"No Master, none." Hopping down, Hachi landed with surprising lightness for someone so round. "Lady Sango looks ok, she's standing. I think she was crying again, Master." 

At the last piece of news, Miroku's heart clenched tight, the pain radiating through his body, dwarfing the ache in his hand. _Thanks for that, Hachi._

--- 

From with in the twisted branches of an ancient hemlock, another set of bright eyes watched the houshi and tanuki. These were set into a burned, scarred face. The silent watcher faded back into the greenery, concealed by his grey and green clothes, a sharp, evil smile on his lips. 

--- 

Fighting to speak evenly, Sango's eyes met those of each of her friends. "We have to tell Mushin. It is only right." Her eyes touched Kiyoshi's last, and flicked away quickly. 

"I shall join you. You were a party of six. Six we shall be." 

Looking up at him, Shippou frowned, confused. Tugging at the hunter's pant leg to make sure the man heard him, the kit's question was simple. "But what about those bandits you were hunting?" 

"I wasn't hired; I was after the bounty on them. Someone will get them, and take the price on thier heads." Pausing to ruffle Shippou's hair, he continued. "I was the last person to speak to Miroku, and I think he and I would have become strong allies. I feel that I must help avenge him. And your fight is with my enemy as well, Shippou." 

Sango pinned him with her gaze, like a fowl on an arrow. Not having spoken once to her former lover since striking him nearly two days ago, her words to him were not kind. "What makes you think you are wanted?" 

Wilting under her gaze, Kiyoushi lowered his head. "Sango, what would have had me do? He told me not to follow, and that was it. Not even a warning to make sure you did not follow. Even if I had known what was to happen, what could I have done?" 

Resting a hand on her friend's shoulder, Kagome spoke softly, quietly. "There was nothing anyone could do. Only Miroku could control his void; if he was loosing control, all you could have done would have been to die with him." 

_I wish I had, Kagome-chan, don't you understand that?_ "I know. I'm sorry, Taijya-kun." 

Using an outstretched finger to tilt her chin up, his storm grey ones met her eyes, smiling gently, warmly. "It's alright, Sango. I will always forgive you." _So easy to prey on them while they grieve._

_I hope Miroku breaks those fingers, slimeball. If he doesn't, I will. Count on it._ Looking up at the sun, Inuyasha turned to the others. "Come on, then. We can be there in five days." 

--- 

That night, after they made camp, Kiyoshi walked into the forest, saying he needed to find a place to bathe. He walked for several minutes, before finding a small, noisy brook. Shedding his clothes, and leaning against a boulder, he whistled a warbling bird call. He was answered several minutes later by a stealthy footstep. 

"Kaban, looks like our days as highway men are over." 

"Master?" 

"Well, after you ate..." Stroking his chin, Kiyoshi tried to remember tha name that had been on the tip of his tounge. "Oh, what his name? The stupid fellow." 

"Kaijou was his name, Master." 

"Yes, Kaijou. After you ate Kaijou, the three bandits became two. And the bounty was for three. So no way we can collect that bounty, unless we find another group, with a demon and two warriors." 

"The pickings were not lessening though, Master. We could have stayed there and continued to rob the merchants and pilgrims. Sooner or later we could have found some suckers who fit the description. Even if we had to pick them off one by one, and just took back their rotting heads..." 

Grabbing the scarred tanuki by his vest front, Kiyoshi yanked him closer. "Listen to me, flea bag! I said the scam was over! Got that?" 

Shaking slightly, the youkai lowered his head in submission. "Ye-yes, Master Kiyoshi." 

"These friends of Sango's, they are looking for the Shikon no Tama. Do you know what that could do for me, Kaban? You would be the servant of a kami, with all the sweet, juicy, plump little eats you could want." 

"Besides, I'm not about to walk away from these two. Sango is still the best little bed warmer I've had, and she _will_ be mine again. I wonder if she remembers all the pleasing things I taught her. And Kagome looks like she'd be fun. So shameless, flaunting her legs like that, but so trusting, so innocent. She's practically begging- and that stupid mutt can't see it." Closing his eyes, the hentai enjoyed a thought. "Maybe they could be taught to share. They would look so pretty together... Kaban, how close do you think they really are?" 

"Hmm.... they do look tasty, Master..." Lost in depraved thought, Kaban licked his lips. "And the little kitty looks like it would make a nice stew." 

Chuckling softly, the hunter shook his head. "She'd probably end up eating you, baka." Pausing to glance at his servant, Kiyoshi grinned slightly. "At least I'm assuming you are talking about Kirara, not the kitsune." 

As Kiyoushi stood and shook the water from his now loose hair, Kaban smiled like a cat at a plate of fish, turning to business. "Master, I have news that may interest you. It seems that you've not been told the truth about the monk's so called death." 

--- 

It was midday as they entered Mushin's temple grounds, with a light drizzle falling from a leaden sky. Everyone was soaked, and not just because Kagome had fallen into the river while crossing the rocks. 

"Where is he?" Shippou looked around, feeling a drop of water from Kagome's hair land on the back of his hand. 

Inuyasha sniffed the air, before grunting. "Everything around here smells like him. HEY! YOU OLD DRUNKARD, WHERE ARE YOU?!" 

"Inuyasha, you could be a little more couth. We are here to tell him his student is dead." Kagome glanced at the beads against the white of Inuyasha's creamy shitagi, a silent warning that was clearly understood. He cringed, looking at Kagome's red-covered form, waiting for her to say the word, but before she could utter it, she was distracted. 

Kiyoshi had slipped open the door to the storage shed, and was examining the contents closely. "Is this him?" 

"Yes, it's him." Sango slipped past, checking the bundle of robes. Without any warning, she kicked the empty sake jar from under the fallen monk's head, letting his skull bounce on the floor, unthinkingly doing as Miroku had done so many times. _You taught him all of those bad habits!_

"Hmmm" Smacking sticky, chilled lips, Mushin looked about, finding Kiyoshi with rummy, hung-over eyes. "Miroku? When did you start dressing like that?" 

"My apologizes, sir, but I am not he." 

Without any preamble, Inuyasha began to speak from the doorway. "Miroku is dead, old man. His hand did it, eight days ago." _You know, the more you tell the same lie, the easier it is to do._

Sighing softly, Mushin shook his head. "I told him not to use the kazaana as a weapon. I told that stupid boy to be more careful." Rising slowly, unsteadily, he fumbled a jar of more spirits from the shelf. Raising it to the ceiling in a quiet toast, he drank deeply. 

_Stupid old man, don't you understand, he's dead! Houshi-sama is dead!_ Sango hugged herself, and lowered her head, disappointed in the monk's memorial. She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder, a hand she'd not felt there for a long time. Kiyoshi's. 

As Mushin lowered the jar, he took in the sight of Sango's hand reaching up to cup the other hunter's. _Didn't take you long enough to replace my boy, did it?_ "So who's the new guy? It is uncanny." 

Straighten himself, coming to his fullest height, his head high, Kiyoshi's eyes bored into the old man's silent accusation. "I am Kiyoshi, a Taijya, as Sango is. My sword and I have been pledged to avenge your foster son's death, to slay his enemy. I knew him for only a part of a day, but he was my friend." Letting his hand slip from under Sango's, he reached past the monk, taking down a jar, and silently toasting the houshi's memory. With five loud gulps, he drained the jar without taking it from his lips. As the others watched in amazement, he hurled the pottery to the floor, shattering it. "Every breath, every drink, is a reminder of him. And when the time comes, our enemy will be as that jar, shattered and empty, to be tossed on a trash heap!" 

Sango and Kagome shared a look, as the younger girl tried to identify the scent in the air. _Testosterone._

--- 

"Master?" 

"Over here, Hachi." Crawling out from under the boulder that had been his hideaway as a boy, Miroku definitely was the worst for wear, disheveled, his nails and robes dirty, his eyes red-rimmed. "How are they?" 

"Lady Kagome hasn't cried today, even when she fell in the river. Shippou is in fine spirits, and Inuyasha..." 

Miroku smiled as the tanuki informed him of his friends' day, desperately clinging to anything that was ordinary to him. _That is so like Kagome, to fall like that. Inuyasha probably had to fish her out, and grumbled as he wrapped his haori around her. And they are still the same, even without me there._

_Even without me._

"You didn't tell me about Sango, Hachi." 

_He doesn't need to know about Him getting closer to her._ "She's as well as can be expected, Master. She's eating, and she's not stumbling over everything." _She looks like she's half dead, Master, and I can't get close enough to their camp to hear, but I can smell her tears every night._ "They say time heals all things, Master." 

"And what of Kiyoshi?" 

"Oh. Him." Looking down at his feet, Hachi couldn't think of a convincing lie, so he settled for the truth. "He and Mushin are drinking and toasting your memory. The pile of empty jars is almost as tall as those two are right now." 

Without a word, Miroku slithered back under his rock, curling into a ball. _Damn him. Damn him. He's stealing my life. Damn him. He's already stolen Sango. Now he wants Mushin. What's next?_

_Buddha, I know this is a lesson, but hurry up and get to the damn point!_

--- 

"OK, that's the last of the ramen, everyone." Kagome's news brought scowls all around, even from Sango. 

"But, Kagome, don't you need to go home soon? You can get more ramen and chocolate and everything else then, right?" 

"Of course, Shippou, there's plenty there. Don't worry." 

"What, no way, wench, you aren't going anywhere!" 

"Really, Inuyasha? Then I guess you don't want that ramen feast Kagome promised you the night..." _he died._ Sango looked down at her cup of noodles, fighting the sadness, trying to push it back. It was the first time in nearly ten days that she had even spoken of that night aloud. 

The silence hung heavy over the travelers for long moments, before Kiyoshi spoke. "Kagome, I know I have said this, but I would like to see your land. I am interested in those who would make such equipment." 

_Kagome, don't let him sucker you- you know what Sango told you._ "Well, I'm really the only person who can go there, and Inuyasha. Even if I could bring people with me, it's a very different place, and you would stand out." As they got closer to the well, Kagome had worried more and more about how do hide when she went. "Besides, it isn't a good idea to have a lot of strangers running around, someone might notice." 

"Feh! It smells funny there, anyway- I've been there Kiyoshi, people wear masks just to breathe with all the crap they burn." 

_Good, he remembered my warning. I know Sango won't slip. The only possibility is Shippou._

"You can go home, and I'm coming with you to make sure all you do is get ramen and stuff. None of these damn tests." 

--- 

During the two days back to Kaede's, Inuyasha and Kagome argued about her going back, but he could tell it was a loosing battle. If given the choice between the food here-and-now, even beef, or ramen, Inuyasha would want the ramen, and since it was only available on the other side of the well, he couldn't argue very much. Not unless he wanted his belly to fight with him to. 

"And I'll bring my bike back. The roads have hardened up enough so that I can ride it. Plenty of ramen, and sweets, and everything else, to." 

"Kagome, two days, and I'm coming after you." 

"You do, I'll sit you!" Even spoken without meaning, the magic word was still the magic word. Kagome's mind immediately thought back to the time she subdued Inuyasha on this bridge. Fortunately, this time, she was standing on it, and he was on the bank. 

"Bitch, what the hell did you do that for?" 

Angered by the pain, Inuyasha's face was fortunately hidden in the dirt. That way, Kiyoshi couldn't see the blush of humiliation from the hunter's laughter. This was the first time he had actually seen the trick, and he didn't bother to hide his amusement. His laughter was so fierce, that he knocked Shippou from the shoulder the kit was drowsily clinging to. _So, dog boy, she has you well leashed, doesn't she?_

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha, I didn't mean it. It just sorta slipped out." 

"Feh." Pushing himself up from the ground, Inuyasha stomped off, heading for 'his' forest. _It wasn't the sit, it was that bastard laughing. If Miroku doesn't kill him, I will._

"Inuyasha, wait! I need to talk to you, before I leave." 

"Fine, whatever. Just keep up." 

Watching her friends walking off, Sango scratched under Kirara's chin while the little cat sat on her shoulder. _Now what?_

"Come on, Sango, let's introduce Kaede to Kiyoshi!" Recovering quickly the wake up call he'd received, Shippou urged the others in the other direction, towards the old miko's hut. "Kaede, there is someone you should meet!" 

Coming to the door of her hut, Kaede looked over her returning students with a keen eye. _Hmmm... New boy, looks like a samurai. Not bad._ "Who would yea be? And where are Kagome, Inuyasha and Miroku? Has she gone back to her own time already?" 

Bowing formally, Kiyoshi then lowered himself to one knee in reverence to Keade's position. "I great you, Kaede-sama. I am Kiyoshi of the Taijya. I regret to inform you that Miroku has died." _'Her own time'? What does that mean?_ Raising his head, Kiyoshi rose. "He succumbed to his curse. Although I knew him only for a few hours, I feel honor bound to take my friend's place in the quest to restore the Shikon no Tama, and avenge his clan along with my own." 

_Her own time. Kagome's time. No wonder it is far away._

--- 

"Ok, Kagome, what was it you wanted to talk about." Crossing his arms in annoyance, Inuyasha stood in front of Kagome, blocking her path just short of the well. 

"Well, I just wanted to thank you." 

Inuyasha's ear twitched as he stood there, silently, knowing there was more. 

"For taking care of us, especially Sango. And for not slipping around Kiyoshi. Me and Sango just don't think he needs to know when I come from." 

"Feh." 

"And I wanted to ask you about this." Fishing about in a pocket, Kagome pulled out a little scrap of black cloth. It was frayed along two of its three edges, and it had a snag in the middle. "I found this on a branch outside of Mushin's shrine. It's Miroku's, isn't." 

"Kagome, he's dead." _Damn, I can lie with a straight face about it now._ "It's probably just something that had been left there for a long time." 

"No, it wasn't. It wasn't a perennial I took it off of, and it isn't faded. We haven't been there in months, not since last autumn. That plant was alive when I took this off." Shrugging off her nearly empty pack, Kagome knelt to open it. "He's alive, and you know it. I should be furious with you both for doing this to Sango, but he has his reasons. And he's close- I've felt someone watching us at night. I figured it was just my imagination. I mean, you didn't go to check on it or anything, at least not while we were awake." 

Kagome dug through her pack for several minutes while Inuyasha sweated. "He's alright, right?" 

"Yeah, he's alright physically. He just needed some time away." 

Kagome shot her companion a hard, cold look. _Yeah, now you get to see what you and Kikyou do to me, Inuyasha. If it wasn't for the Jewel, I might run away too._

"What?!" 

"Never mind, you wouldn't understand. Keep an eye on Shippou while I'm in my time, and don't let him tell Kiyoshi about the well." Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything on the subject, Kagome lifted four familiar objects from her pack. "The last four cups of ramen. I was saving them, just in case." 

Inuyasha's brows shot up a hair, as he tried to figure out where they came from. "I thought you said you were out." _And I looked._

"A secret." Smiling her too-innocent-to-be-innocent smile, Kagome stood, holding the cups out to Inuyasha. "Two are for you, two are for Miroku. I know he's close, and I know you can find him. When he comes back, unless Sango kills him, I'm going to ask him if he got these." 

"Uhhh... Kagome? I thought you said you were angry at him." 

He slinging her slightly emptier pack, Kagome started to walk to the well. "Of course I'm angry at him. But he's my friend. He has his reasons for running, and I think I understand them. He'll know who they are from. Just tell him to hurry up and come back. Sango is needs him here, not hiding in the bushes." 

"Two days, wench. Then I'm coming for you!" 

"The new moon is in two days, Inuyasha." With a flash of white and green, the miko was gone down the well, and through time. 

Inuyasha looked down at the bounty in his arms, and debated for a moment. After finding the answer he sought within, he stuffed the ramen in his jacket, and jumped up the side of the Go-Shimboku. Picking that one scent from the others of the forest was difficult, even for Inuyasha's nose, but he found it. 

_He's at that spring, with the blue fall flowers._ Leaping off, Inuyasha landed with a grunt as his feet found the grass below him. Looking and sniffing about, he headed off at his normal speed in the direction of the cool spring in question. 

--- 

"Brrrr.... this is almost as cold as the river was." Having first washed his robes of the dirt and mud that had built up over the past few weeks of sneaking about, Miroku settled himself in the chill waters of the spring. _Well, I meditate in cold waterfalls all the time. This won't be so bad in a few minutes._

Taking a handful of fine, yellowish sand from the bottom of the pool, Miroku scrubbed the filth and muck from his hair. "Hmm.... That feels better." 

"Kagome is going home for a few days, and Hachi is watching the others at the village. Maybe I should just meditate until they go back out." 

Taking advantage that it was still cool for mosquitoes, Miroku stretched out his naked form on the grass, letting the sun dry him, as he waited on his clothes. As he lay there, his eyes closed, his thoughts returned to how he was going to explain this to Sango and the others. "Well, it's like this. My hand did eat me, but on the other side I met my father, and was able to use his hand to spit me back out into this realm.... No... That wouldn't work... 

"Buddha came to me in a vision, and told me to travel. I just had Inuyasha make you all think I was dead, just in case I really did die... Hmm.. Maybe that would work... 

"It was my hand, the one that likes to touch. She took me home and tied me to her bed for a week, and I had to chew through the ropes to escape... No, Sango would beat me until I bled, and _He_ would probably want to know where this person was... 

"He's a freak, and I couldn't deal with it, so I ran away, because I thought there wasn't a place for me here anymore because he and Sango already loved each other and I couldn't compete and I ran away like a coward because I couldn't fight him..." 

"That about sums it up, bozou." 

Eyes flying open, Miroku snatched his staff from where he had driven it into the ground, rising into a crouch. And then he recognized the voice. "Damnit, Inuyasha, I'm going to put a bell around your neck!" Spotting the red and white form of the hanyou, the houshi sat cross legged. "What do you want? Is someone hurt?" 

"Well, I just thought I would tell you that Sango and Kiyoshi are going to name their first born after you, if it is a boy, but they need to hurry up with the wedding. She's still got a few moons until she sho...." That was as far as Inuyasha's cruel joke got before Miroku's shakujo slammed into his forehead, knocking him from the tree branch he was sitting on. Miroku's weight pinned the half demon to the forest floor, as the monk started to hit Inuyasha in the head and chest, his face a mask of pure rage. 

"NO! I'll kill him, I'll suck him into my void! I'm going to kill the bastard! You just sat there and let him do _things_ to her?!" Despite the surprise, Inuyasha quickly recovered, catching each fist in one of his own, and holding them tight. That seemed to throw a switch in Miroku, who slumped down onto Inuyasha. "How could you let him do that, Inuyasha?" 

"Feh! I didn't let him do anything, monk. I was just joking with you." Tossing the naked monk off of his body, Inuyasha sat up, feeling a nice black eye starting to form, along with a split lip. 

"It wasn't very fucking funny. How would you like it if I told you that Kagome was going to have Koga's pups?" 

_She wouldn't do that. She'll have..._ Silencing his own thoughts, Inuyasha looked over at his friend. "You aren't running off to die alone. You ain't putting that on me. Sooner or latter, you'll have to come back, or I'll drag you back." 

"So why did you come here? Just to try to get sucked into my hand?" 

"No. Kagome wanted me to give you these." Inuyasha reached into his jacket, pulling out the four cups of ramen, somehow undamaged in Miroku's assault. _I'm sorry, Miroku. It was a dumb joke._ "She said to hurry up, or she was going to sit us both into next year, whatever that means." 

"How did she know?" 

"You left something behind." Holding up the scrap of fabric, Inuyasha watched Miroku's eyes focus on it. 

As realization dawned on him, Miroku couldn't tear his eyes away. "Who knows?" 

"Just me and Kagome." 

"Good. Sango can't know. She can't know that I am a coward, not until I redeem my honor." 

--- 

**Author's notes:**   
OK, is there ANYONE out there who likes Kiyoshi still? He's evil and twisted and like most true psychopaths, brilliant. 

And for everyone who was thinking I had killed Miroku, I didn't. As you now see, he's alive and well and slowly going a little crazy. Not that I blame him. Inuyasha is lucky he didn't get sucked up. 

As for Kaede... Ah, crap! (And I thought everyone was getting ready to blame Shippou for it.) 


	6. Hunter's Heart Chapter 5: How

Hunter's Heart (Chapter 5: How?)   
by Ironraven   
editorial assistance by Lachesis-chan 

Gomen, I know it's been a month. *dodging thrown objects* 

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama. Kiyoshi is mine, however. 

Let's see... What hasn't gone wrong? Miroku is playing dead. Kagome has gone home. And Kaede slipped up, letting Kiyoshi learn that Kagome is a time traveler. The only thing that hasn't gone wrong is the moon phase, and it's a new moon tonight... 

--- 

"I told that wench, two days. Two days!" 

Leaning against a tree stump, Kiyoshi slowly cleaned his teeth with a long blade of grass, listening to the hanyou's rant in amusement. "The day isn't over, Inuyasha." 

Shippou leaned back against the tree he was sitting in, watching them both. He knew what tonight was, and what it meant to Inuyasha. It meant loosing his edge over the humans, and that was something that Inuyasha hid from the world. He wasn't about to anger his surrogate brother by saying anything in front of the new guy, no matter how much he liked the hunter. 

"Who asked you, Kiyoshi, huh? Stay out of this." Turning towards, his forest, Inuyasha stomped off. "I'll be back." 

"Inuyasha, where are you going?" Tossing aside his grass, the hunter jumped to his feet in a move of relaxed power, much like one the dog boy would have used. 

"To get Kagome, baka. Stay here." 

Jumping from his tree, the kitsune unconsciously placed himself between the two warriors. "Don't worry, Inuyasha, I'll look after things here!" 

The brave pledge of the kitsune caused Inuyasha's eyebrow to twitch slightly, a smile spreading itself across his lips. A smile only the trees could see. _Not yet Shippou._ "Feh. Whatever." 

Pausing several times to listen and scent the air, making sure he was not being followed, Inuyasha wove a twisted route to the well. Here and there, the smell of the new hunter and his tanuki friend crossed his path, but all of it was old. _Probably hunting or exploring. Doesn't look like they stayed too long any one place._

_Even if they do know, without a shard, they can't follow me._ Looking around one last time, he vaulted over the low wall. With a flash, he was gone. 

--- 

_Blasted tourists. Poking and prodding everything. No respect for the past._ Pausing to pick up a piece of litter, Jii-chan shuffled about the shrine, cleaning and straightening. Sighing in disgust, he pried up a piece of chewing gum. _Geijin. May demons suck their eyes from their heads and play ping-pong with them!_ A now familiar hollow pop and flash of blue-white light rang from they dry well. "Who's there? Show yourself, demons- I am a powerful wizard! Show your faces or face my wrath!" 

"Feh, in your dreams, old man." An unfortunately familiar white mane of hair poked out from the edge of the well. With the arrogant grace of youth and strength, Inuyasha leapt off the ladder and into the shrine. His smirk mocked the shrine guardian's scowl. _I love you to, jiiji._

"I think she's in her room, Inuyasha." 

"How did you know I was going to ask where Kagome is?" 

"You only ever come here for one of three reasons, demon. For my granddaughter, my granddaughter and food, or because you can't sleep without making sure my granddaughter is safe." 

"Feh!" Taking the steps three at a time, Inuyasha's hands shot out to grab either side of the door way, stopping his rush just short of the portal. He leaned on his arms, mouth open, eyes staring at the wooden door. 

"Do you like it?" 

'It' was a new addition to the well's decor. 'It' was an ofuda. A _live_, _active_ ofuda, throbbing in Inuyasha's demon senses. Standing at the top landing of the well, Inuyasha whirled, teeth and claws bared in anger. "Where did this come from, old man!" 

"Kaede taught me to make better ones when she was here sick, remember." Sending his best smile at the half demon, Jii-chan crossed his arms. "You can pass, Inuyasha. Kagome insisted that it allow any who are welcome here to pass, or she would take them down herself." _Even if it was against my better judgment to do so._

The shock having passed, Inuyasha looked at the barrier again. _Not very strong. I could get through even if I was blocked. Shippou or Myouga could get through here without too much trouble. But it would probably wake the old fool up if someone crashed through. Not a bad idea._ Cringing inwardly, accustomed to Kaede and Miroku's wards, Inuyasha pushed the door open without any resistance as the last bit of the sun dropped. 

"Hmph!" Grabbing the door frame in his hand, Inuyasha steadied himself as the change slammed into him. Black spilled though his hair like ink into a sponge as his ears twisted and moved across his head, stampeding down his skull. The sudden loss of most of senses masked the feeling of his fingers sucking his nails back into their roots. _Damnit, that hurts._

"Inuyasha!" Looking up in surprise, Inuyasha saw it was Kagome's hand on his arm. "Are you alright?" 

"Do I look all right!?" 

From back in the well, Jii-chan's voice was soft. "You look human." 

--- 

Pulling fingers through her still damp hair, Sango walked to the steps of Keade's hut. "Shippou, have you seen Taijya-kun?" 

"He said he was going further up the river, said he had some thinking to do." Frowning at the ground, Shippou scratched at his ear. "He's been doing that a lot, hasn't he." 

Sango nodded, her lips pressed together in a flat line. "And Inuyasha is out getting Kagome?" 

"Yep. Although, I doubt he'll be back my morning. It is the..." 

"It is the way it usually works out. I know Inuyasha has shown you a little about scent tracking. Think you could find Taijya-kun for me?" _I'm sorry, Shippou, but if he sees you, he won't think he's being watched._

"Why? Is something wrong?" 

"Not really." Sighing, Sango looked about for signs of the other hunter. "Do you ever get the feeling that something isn't right about him?" 

"Not really. I trust him. At least more the Kouga. You don't." 

"I'm not sure. Kagome's travel, Inuyasha's night, we all have secrets. His have made trouble in the past." 

"But he's a good guy, right?" 

Looking down at her feet, Sango's emotions warred with each other. "I think so. But if you could find him, just keep an eye one him. And don't let him see you. Think you can do that? I need to talk with Kaede." 

"If I find him, he won't see me, Sango. Kitsune's are illusionists." 

--- 

Coming out of the river well down stream of the village, Kiyoshi wrinkled his nose as he sank knee deep in a pocket of clay. Shaking and kicking his leg in disgust, he made his way up the bank. The last of the twilight died as he hung a serpentine candle in a branch, lighting it with a rapidly struck spark in a tiny tinder box. Leaning back against the tree, he waited. _Down stream, near the four fingers of stone with maples between each finger, is what Kaban said._ The hunter's frustrated whistle was soon answered by the tanuki's footsteps. 

"Took you long enough." 

"I'm sorry, master. I think I've found the girl's portal." 

"Really? That is interesting." 

"A dry well, near the old shrine. It reeks of the hanyou's scent, along with the others." 

"At the base of the giant tree? I thought it felt funny when I was exploring yesterday, like I was being watched by the tree." 

Nodding, the battered demon cracked his knuckles happily. "The half breed lives in that tree. His scent and fur are all over it." 

"That's funny, he's been sleeping at the old woman's roof." Closing his eyes, Kiyoshi assembled the facts in his mind. "It makes sense. He's protecting the well from us. He suspects something." 

Shaking his head, Kaban clearly didn't agree. "Or he could just not trust you enough to tell you were his nest is, Master. You are new to his party, he might keep it secret. But it could be the portal. He is it's guardian." 

"Hmmmm.... You are probably right, Kaban." Plucking a slender strand of grass, he started tying knots in it. "In that case, we can move within the next few days. Do you remember your part of the plan?" 

"Yes, Master. When you grab the jewel, if you are not blocked, I am to carry you away quickly. If the pretties stop you, I am to run and lead the half breed and Kirara away." Running an eager tongue over a long tooth, Kaban wondered silently if roasted firecat would taste different from a normal roasted cat. "Kill the kitty. Kill the half breed; master, I will consider it an honor to destroy him. He is a mockery of the natural laws. Making hanyou is fun, particularly if the pretty is feisty, but you destroy them as soon as they are born." 

"You are a savage." Smiling to soften the harsh words, the taijya leaned back on his elbows. "By the full moon, I'll rule the land as a living god." 

Smacking his neck, he glared at the tanuki. "Keep your fleas to yourself, if you please, or I'll finish burning off your fur!" 

"I do not have fleas, Master. Perhaps your association with that mongrel has led to an infestation." Smirking in the faint candle light, Kaban looked up. "Tonight is the new moon. A pity he ran- many hanyou are weak on this night, Master. It would have been easy to eliminate him as a human. He fears us, and hid." 

Looking into the candle flame, the hunter thought in silence for several minutes. "Kaban, do not harm the fox child. He is not to see what we are to do. We will return a few days later, with the body of a demon." 

"Master?" 

"I will be the last of the Youkai Taiyja. I will need an apprentice, even if I do gain the power of the jewel." 

--- 

Ladling soup into a bowl, Sango looked across at Shippou. "It's alright. Your said his scent stopped at the river. It is an old trick of his." _Of our's, taijya- who knows his ways better?_ "Even Inuyasha would have lost his scent at that point." 

Slurping broth, Shippou focused on filling his belly for the moment. "Really?" 

"Really." 

"I looked, he didn't come out the other side. No tracks, no scent, up or down stream from where he went into the river." 

"If there was sun, ye might have been able to find tracks in the soft areas, but by morning there will be nothing to find. That is, if he did not float or swim for a ways." Setting aside her bowl, Keade looked at her younger friends. "Sango, do yea really think we have reason to worry?" 

"Maybe." The huntress closed her eyes, thinking back. The night they found Kiyoshi with an agent of another tribe, copies of the ancient alchemical scrolls in his possession. The agent, the kunochi, wasn't dressed for battle as Sango smashed the door in, but neither was Kiyoshi. Seeing red, feeling shame as they asked her to join them. JOIN THEM! The other woman looking her over, the way Kiyoshi did, tounge running over lips. Her father pushing her frozen form out of the way, grabbing Kiyoshi and dragging the younger hunter's suddenly unconscious form out by the hair. Of the fight with the pale, unscarred beauty that had lured him away. "I hope it's just our history." 

"And if ye are right?" 

Sango hugged herself, and looked into the cook fire, unable to answer that question. 

--- 

Inuyasha yawned as the first light of day became distinct from the city glow. _Hmmm.... Haven't slept that well in a while._ Looking down at his hands, properly clawed, fine white hairs on them, he leaned back against Kagome's door. "When I'm not human, I can sleep next to her. When my curse kicks in, I can't. It isn't fair." 

Inside his mind, an evil little voice whispered to him. _It's because last night you were a man. Every other night, you are a dog to her. A pet to let curl up on the floor. She's a miko, a shrine maiden- she can not share her bed with a man. But a playful puppy is another matter. Kagome wants the puppy; Kikyou wanted the man, Inuyasha._

Shaking his head to clear the doubts, he muttered to himself. "Oh, shut up Inuyasha, you don't believe that." 

Reaching down to rub Boyou's head, he marveled at a night in Kagome's time without Souta. It had been interesting, not having to worry about the kid being right there. He had gone to a "sleep over", what ever that was. And without his normal ears, Kagome's mother hadn't been as interested in rubbing his ears. Even the old man was decent to be around for once. 

Watching something called a "movie" on the little picture box with Kagome had been fun. The swordplay was silly, and most of the warriors in it used horribly made, overly heavy blades. Still, it was an interesting story. To him, it was about groups of youkai or hanyou, after something they called the "prize". The bad guy reminded him of Naraku, only uglier. It reminded him of their quest so much that he had asked about it. 

'No, I think only Jii-chan and a couple of other scholars know about the Shikon no Tama in my time. But everyone has a story about things like it. This is a story that someone made up about the time I was born.' He remembered Kagome's sigh as she leaned against him for comfort. 'Outo-san liked this movie a lot, even if it is a little violent for my taste. He would hum the love song from it all the time.' 

_'There is no time for us, there is no place for us...' Sounds like me._

Any further ruminations were thrown from Inuyasha's head when Kagome opened the door. His head bounced on her floor, the more familiar pain replacing the one inside his head. "Watch it!" 

Hmphing, she stepped over him and started over the stairs, her traveling clothes draped over an arm. "And a good morning to you too, Inuyasha." 

"What did I do?" 

Boyou simply yawned. 

Getting to his feet, Inuyasha silently padded down the stairs. Sitting on the kitchen table was the hulking pack that she had filled last night before watching the story. He could hear the rustle of clothes through the door, running water. "As soon as you're done, we're out of here!" 

--- 

Hopping as fast as he could, Myouga ran to Keade's hut. Inuyasha's tree was empty, and it was the night of the new moon. Cursing the lack of birds he could hitch a ride on, the grandfather flea had many interesting things to say about the previous night. Having to pull himself out of the river after loosing his grip on the human half of the conspiracy he had landed in the night before was just the start of his foul luck. Covering a day's jump in half that time. No one at the well. All he could hope for was they were at Keade's hut. His feet were sore, and his stomach was mewling at him. At this point, he'd even suck on a tired, tough old lady like the miko. 

Coming to the door way, he squirmed in through a crack, and froze. Before him, sprawled on the floor in Miroku's usual place as him, the man who wanted to take the Jewel! And no sign of the monk. Something was horribly, horribly wrong. Fear gripped his thorax and squeezed as he checked on the other occupants of the hut. Kaede was unhurt, as were Sango, Shippou and Kirara. 

"Lady Sango, wake up, please. It is Myouga, I need to talk to you, it is urgent." The huntress swatted at her ear, trying to brush him away. _I need to wake her up and I need to eat. Two birds with one stone._

Digging his snout deep into the flesh of her ear, Myouga slacked his thirst. _Not bad. Better than Kikyou was, but not as sweet at Kagome._ Twice the hunter smacked her ear sleepily, trying to dislodge him, before she woke up. "Lady Sango, wake up, I need to talk to you." 

"Hmm... Myouga?" 

"Not here, outside. It is urgent. And keep your voice down." 

"Alright." Climbing to her feet, Sango slowly walked across the floor, moving deliberately to remain silent. Lifting her feet just enough to clear the wood, she worked her way past her companions, pointedly not looking towards Kiyoshi laying in what she thought of 'Miroku's space'. She cracked the door wide enough to slip out, and closed it behind her. Knowing that the flea's words required secrecy, she crossed to the path into Inuyasha's forest, sitting against a tree. "What has you so worried, Myouga?" 

"Many things. Where is Master Miroku? That isn't him!" 

"I know. That is Kiyoshi. We used to be..." Closing her eyes as she thought of a word, Sango settled on one. "We were together." 

"And Master Miroku ran away because of him?" 

"Houshi-sama's hand went wild, Myouga, and sucked him into it. He's... He's... He's dead." After finally saying it, admitting that Houshi-sama was gone, dead, Sango drew a shuddering breath. "It happened the night we met Taijya-kun." 

Setting delicately on Sango's shoulder, the flea crossed his arms, tucking his hands into his sleeves. "Do you love him still?" 

Sango's heart twisted at that simple word. Her ears rang as if slapped. Hanging her head, Sango's words were barely audible, even to the flea, her voice flat, lifeless. "Which one?" 

"Kiyoshi." 

"He betrayed me, many years ago. I can never forgive him." 

_Hmmm... That isn't what I asked, Lady Sango, but I know now you are not a part of this._ "He is not to be trusted. Last night, I came across him and a tanuki further down the river. They are planning to steal the Jewel, and use it for their own power. And they know the Bone Eater's Well is Lady Kagome's portal to her time." 

Twisting her face to look at the flea, Sango's lips were pulled back in a snarl. Myouga had seen the expression before, on his Master's face, and those of his sons. On Lady Sango's, it was a little terrifying. "Tell me everything, Myouga." 

Sweating profusely, the Grandfather Flea told everything. When he was finished, he took a deep breath, trying to keep the pity he felt out of his voice. "Lady Sango, there is something else. A curse like Master Miroku's, could, if the legends are right, be triggered by an extreme emotion. Such as hate, or jealousy. Or if he wanted to die. I'm sorry." 

Sango looked at the flea, not full beleiving what she had just heard, but knowing somehow it was true. _Kiyoshi. You killed him. You killed Houshi-sama. You killed him. You killed Miroku._

--- 

With an audible shimmer, the squabbling pair were deposited in Japan's feudal era. "...wasted time, wench! Look how high the sun is!" 

"Well, I'm not the one who asked my mother for a fourth helping of breakfast!" 

"Feh!" As Inuyasha jumped out of the well, he spotted Sango as a blur of pink and green. Landing next to the huntress, Kagome slid off his back. 

"Sango, what's wrong? Is someone hurt?" 

"No one is hurt." Brows furrowed in anger, Sango uncrossed her arms. "Not yet, Kagome." 

"Huh? What do you mean?" Looking about quickly, Inuyasha drank in several scents. The other hunter's tanuki had been here after he left last night. _That isn't good._

"Kiyoshi wants the Jewel. Myouga overheard everything last night." Watching her friends' faces, Sango told of the most frightening part of the conspiracy. "And he knows about the well." 

"Kuso!" 

"Oh, no. Where is Shippou?" 

"Shippou is safe. He's with Kaede while she makes her rounds. Kiyoshi was going to go and see if he could be useful with the rice planting." Looking through the forest, seemingly at the patties beyond, Sango sighed. "It lets him look at the legs of girls." 

Holding her self tight with anger, Kagome seethed. "How did he figure it out?" 

Gently, Inuyasha set his hand on her shoulder. "More importantly, how do we stop him." 

Turning back to face them, Sango's face and voice were blank, empty of emotion. "We kill him." 

--- 

Author's notes:   
A blade of grass isn't the world's best floss substitute, but it's been used as such for millennia. 

How many fics have I a written and no Myouga? I think the bug is cool. Yeah, he's a 'coward', but his strength isn't in combat, but in reconnaissance and intelligence. He's yet another flea, so he doesn't stick out, and he's one of the smarter characters in the saga. *pouts, wanting a Myouga plushie* 

**kunochi**: Term popularly applied to female ninja. Rarely open warriors, usually used as couriers, intelligence gatherers and "honey pot" agents. 


	7. Hunter's Heart Chapter 6: Truth

Hunter's Heart (Chapter 6: Truth)   
by Ironraven 

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama. 

Sorry folks, this one is very short. As in, it spans less than a half hour. But will take much longer to read. Why? Because fights are hard to describe. The only way is to do a John Woo marathon. :) 

Now, where were we? Ah, yes. Sango and the others had decided that it was time for Kiyoshi to part company. Not only with them, but with his head. 

--- 

"Master! Master Miroku, come quick!" 

The silence of the forest broken, Miroku instinctively flinched, sending the fish that was nearly between his hands swimming off in another direction. Sighing sadly as he watched his dinner hide, Miroku straightened up. "What is it now, Hachi?" 

"It's Kiyoshi; he's attacking the others!" 

"WHAT?! 

--- 

Falling towards the black-clad hunter, Inuyasha brought Tessaiga down with all of his considerable strength, only to feel the shock as his blade was blocked. The strike, meant to split Kiyoshi in half, just knocked him back. But it did shatter the blade of his no-dachi, the Kataidenko. Grinning evilly, the hanyou advanced on the rouge taijya before him. "Having fun yet?" 

Dropping the remains of his blade, Kiyoshi's hand slipped into his haori. "Not as much as I'll have tonight, hanyou." Flicking his hand, the hunter sent something small and black towards his white-haired opponent. Used to the small daggers and shuriken that many warriors carried, Inuyasha snapped his blade down to block the missile. 

The black spheroid burst as it met the blade, scattering a foul smelling black dust through the air. A mix of herbs and ink powder, it was something meant to block the sense of smell of many youkai, and with enough force to leave them dazed. The involuntary inhalation of surprise was all that was needed. Coughing and choking, Inuyasha stumbled back, giving Kiyoshi an opening. 

The hunter's left hand found the hilt of his wakazashi at his side. Drawing underhanded, he slammed the pommel into Inuyasha's throat, the impact trigger choking spasms as the hanyou fought to breath in the ink stink. Reversing the blade in his hand, Kiyoshi crashed the butt down hard onto the dog boy's temple with a crack, splitting the skin and sending Inuyasha to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. 

"Inuyasha!" Distracted by his fall, Kagome looked away from the tanuki youkai that had been facing Sango. With the opening, the burned demon hurled his kama at the miko, who had just enough warning to duck. She felt the sickle pass at the level her ears had been at moments before, and a sharp thunk, as the blade lodged in the shaft of her bow, rendering it useless. 

"Don't loose your head, pretty." Taunting, mocking them both, Kaban faced Sango and Kagome. He slashed at the huntress with his dagger, only to have her block the thrusts with the bulk of Hairikitsu. 

Watching the hanyou fall, Shippou gasped, and rushed the evil taijya. _People only fall like that if they are dead!_ "Inuyasha!" 

Turning to face the cry of his would be attacker, Kiyoshi's blade arced out, intent on relieving Shippou of his head. Seeing the glittering blade, Shippou squealed and leaped as high as he could to avoid the exterminator's cut. "Worry about yourself, boy!" 

Kirara loped up, slamming her mass into Kiyoshi from behind, pinning him face down and sending his sword flying. He lashed his foot out at her hind ankle, snarling in anger. The firecat shifted to avoid the kick, allowing the black clad man to turn under her, kicking hard up into her belly. Scrabbling out from under the beast, Kiyoshi stood before her, his slender throwing knife in his hand, eyes ablaze. 

Sango slashed at the scarred demon before her with Hairikitsu, growing frustrated with each dodge made by the tanuki. He leapt over her swing, landing on the bone blade, leaping again. The force of his jump sent the boomerang to the ground, and pushed Sango off balance. Seeing her mistress in danger, Kirara abandoned her fight with Kiyoshi, springing over his head and hitting Kaban dead on in midair. The two snarling demons landed close to Kagome. Reversing his blade, Kaban stabbed it into Kirara's foot, while her claws raked his upper arm. Howling in pain, the feline pulled back. 

"Kagome, RUN! You have what they want!" Sango reached her feet, dragging her massive weapon up with her. As she watched her friend follow the advice, a strong hand wrapped around her wrist from behind, yanking her back. 

"Not everything we want, Sango-love." Kiyoshi's toes slammed into the back of her knee, staggering her, while he twisted her wrist, forcing her to drop Hairikitsu. Twisting her arm painfully behind her back, he tangled the fingers of his knife hand in her hair, yanking her head back. The hunter's lips found hers, kissing her roughly, savagely, while his tongue stabbed into her mouth. Outraged, she tried to bite at the offending pink flesh, but he'd been expecting it. With a chuckle, Kiyoshi twisted her arm again, much harder. A scream rang from her lips as he twisted her arm brutally, dislocating her shoulder. With a final kick to her tailbone, he flung Sango face down to the ground. 

Kaban chased after Kagome, grabbing her arm. In desperation, the young miko wrapped herself in energy, pulsing it out at her attacker. "Owww! Bitch, I'm gonna..." 

"I am not your bitch!" Facing him, fists curled in anger, Kagome tried to stare down the much larger demon as she gathered more energy. Her attack was checked by a small, red and blue ball wrapping itself around the tanuki's head. Shippou bit down as hard as he could, digging his teeth into the soft flesh of Kaban's unburned ear. 

Reaching up, he grabbed the child by his jacket and jerked him off. Kaban threw the boy at Kagome, sending them both to the ground. Reaching up, he felt blood pouring from his. "You little bastard, I'm going to eat you alive!" 

Her stride off from the wound in her foot, Kirara crashed against Kiyoshi, sending him sprawling again. This time, she waited for him to get up before batting at him, sending him flying. Her claws tore at the fabric of his haori and shitagi, but the snake youkai hide of his armour protected Kiyoshi from disembowelment. Rolling as he landed, Kiyoshi found himself near Kagome. 

Stomping at Kagome's ankle from where he lay, Kiyoshi smiled coldly as her joint bent. She fell hard, gasping in pain as her lower leg felt as if it had been lit on fire. An elbow to her belly took any fight out of her for the moment. Kiyoshi grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, pulling her up with him. Holding Kagome close to him, her back to his chest, he trapped her arm by her sides as she fought for air. 

Sango rose painfully to her feet, drawing her short sword underhanded with her weak arm. She hadn't been in this much pain since she had nearly died at her possessed brother's hands. "Let her go, Kiyoshi, and I'll let you live." 

"You let me live once before, and look what happened. You are too soft, Sango. No wonder your weakling father led our village to destruction." Laughing cruelly, he jerked the captive in his arms, forcing Kagome to put weight on her throbbing ankle. His hand ran over the Jewel, closing around it, and yanked it free from around her neck. "Kaban! Take this, and meet me where we agreed!" 

Catching the tossed necklace in his free hand, Kaban backed past his boss, dagger in hand. "Yes, Master. Are you bring the pretty with you?" An ugly, loathsome giggle escaped the beast's lips at the hunter's nod. Taking his long, flying form, the tanuki raced off. 

Snarling angrily, Kirara took to the air, running after him. As she had gone over him, Shippou had grabbed one of her tails and pulled himself onto her. Glancing from her friend to the retreating Jewel, Sango was trapped between two choices, both of them ones she had to take. 

"Go with them Sango, please, the Jewel is the important part of this!" 

"Silence, wench." Taking Kagome's chin in his right hand, twisting it leftward, Kiyoshi's left hand settled onto the back of her head, pushing down and to the right. "Sango-love, I wouldn't do that. Stay here, or your pretty little friend will be punished." 

"Please, Sango, go, don't arhhhh!" A kick to her throbbing ankle silenced any noble thoughts from Kagome's lips. Stepping back a step, he dragged her with him. 

--- 

"Kitsune-bi!" Riding on Kirara, Shippou blasted at the other demon for a third time. Each time, the fire scored tanuki avoided each of the blue bundles of flame. Kirara dropped, her target already off balance from his evasive maneuver, knocking Kaban from the sky. 

Taking his bipedal form, Kaban snatched his dagger from its sheath, and hurled it at the diving form of Kirara. The long, steel blade bit into her shoulder, sinking deep. With a howl of pain, she tumbled from the sky. 

Unable to help his friend, Shippou pulled his top from inside his vest. He cast it at the enemy below him, sending the now massive, spinning weight toward Kaban. Leaping out of the way, Kaban landed on his forearms, rolling forward, to land on his feet. "Boy, do you think your little toys can stop me?" 

Dropping to the ground a few paces from the older and more skilled warrior, Shippou took up the defensive stance Inuyasha had shown him. Eyes flashing between fear and hate, his voice was harsh and foreign to his own ear,"Someone has to!" 

With a cold laugh, Kaban stepped forward, sweeping his foot from the ground with a lazy, but powerful kick aimed at the kitsune's side. Feeling the world slow strangely, Shippou remembered what Inuyasha has said about kicking. _He locked his knee._ Catching the tanuki's shin in his side, Shippou hung from it, riding his opponent's leg. When he was close enough, his small foot lashed out, striking the patella of the supporting leg, knocking it free. Unable to hold any weight, combined with Shippou's weight pulling at the swinging leg, Kaban's knee tore itself apart, spilling both demons to the ground. 

"You little runt, I'm gonna..." 

"KITSUNI-BI!!" Feeling his rage-filled ki being channeled through his hand, Shippou thrust at the face of the fallen enemy. Any threat died on Kaban's lips, turning into an awful, wordless shriek as the tanuki's head was shroud in blue flames as the small hand crashed into his nose. Clutching his face, Kaban writhed on the ground, rolling, trying to extinguish the flames, screaming in wordless agony as the air was filled with reek of burning hair and flesh. 

Fighting a rising mass of bile in his throat, Shippou grabbed the Shikon no Tami, and stuffed it in his vest. Running to where he thought he had seen Kirara fall, he found her, bleeding from two deep wounds, curled in a ball in her smaller form. She moaned as he picked her up in his arms. "Shhh... We need to get Kaede. We need help." 

Running as fast as he could, Shippou blocked out his ears to the howls of the being behind him. Breaking through the forest, he found himself on the edge of one of the village's rice patties. People saw him, running, clothes dirty and torn from battle, tears streaming, as he dashed towards Kaede's hut. "KAEDE!! HELP!!!" 

Stepping from her hut, Kaede took in the scene before her. Taking Kirara into her arms, she quickly checked over the firecat. Seeing that the wounds were already closing, she breathed a sigh of relief. With the bleeding stopped, there really wasn't much that could be done at the moment. "Who did this?" 

"Kaban, he took the Jewel and we followed him and I took it back but Kirara got hurt and Kiyoshi has Kagome and is threatening to kill her and..." 

Standing quickly, Kaede took up the bow and quiver already by her doorway. Looking at the gathering villagers, she picked one. "Yea there, gather the men! The old well will need to be defended! It may look like a man, but thy enemy will fight as a demon!" Turning back to her young friend, Kaede snapped at the boy. "Show me where, Shippou! 

--- 

Miroku knelt next to the whimpering ball of singed and burned matter. "Kaban, why did you attack my friends?" 

Raising his head, the skinny tanuki looked around. What he saw made Hachi's stomach churn. What hair remained had been burned away, along with most of both ears, while his breath bubbled in his throat. Kaban's eyes were greyish-white orbs, looking about wildly, unseeingly. "Houshi-sama? Please, please help me." 

Blistered fingers clutched at Miroku's legs. "Tell me, why did you do it?" 

"The Shikon no Tama. Please, it was his idea, Kiyoshi made me do it." 

Studying the pitiful form before him, Miroku's jaw was set as he jerked his leg away. "Where is it, where is the Jewel?" 

"Please, show mercy, Houshi-saaaahhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Fingers slapping at burned cheeks, Miroku was not in the mood to show mercy. In a panicked, pained voice, Kaban answered the question. "The kid has it! The brat, the kitsune, he took the Jewel. I gave it to him, and he burned me. He blinded me, and left me to die, after I gave him the Shikon no Tama! Please, show mercy. Buddha said we were to be merciful." 

"Where?" 

"The cherry grove, by the tall locust tree, down at the river!" Somehow feeling the doubting look on his interrogator's face, Kaban's voice took an even more terrified tone. "I'm telling the truth! By the big bend! Cherries, in bloom, by the locust!" 

Hachi shrank back as Miroku stood. "Yes, Buddha did teach us to be merciful. Hachi, can you sense the Jewel on him?" 

"No, Master." 

"Nor can I. Kaban, Buddha also taught us to be truthful. Shippou wouldn't have done this unless you forced him to. But I shall be merciful." Stepping back, Miroku raised his hand and slowly loosened the beads around it. 

Hachi turned away, hands on his ears, unable to watch, not wanting to listen. _Master, you haven't been like this for years, not since we found the others._ A wrapped hand on his shoulder startled him. 

"Come on, Hachi. We must help our friends." Stepping into the forest, Miroku pulled his long time companion with him. 

"Master, will you show yourself to them?" 

"If I must." Walking away, they left the stink of burned meat and a small crater, stripped of grass and soil, behind them. Hachi made sure he left several steps between he and his master, the rotund demon shaking like a candle in a storm, fearing his longtime friend for the first time. 

--- 

Standing at the base of a tall, lone locust tree, sniffing the air, Shippou's eyes lit up. "There, that way!" 

Unslinging her bow, Kaede raised her finger to her lips. "Sshhh. We must be quiet from here on. Yea said he had Kagome as a hostage?" 

Nodding, Shippou moved closer to Keade as they stepped into the bushes. Before they got too far, Kaede drew and knocked an arrow. "He is deaf on the right side, right?" 

"Hai." 

--- 

Miroku pushed into the forest as quietly as he could. Hachi was staying well behind him, his paws shaking in fear. Inside, Houshi-sama was doubting himself. _I killed him. I took his life in cold blood. Isn't all life sacred? He wasn't a threat anymore._

_All life is sacred. But whose is more sacred to you? You saw the blood going towards the village. Where did it come from, other than Shippou? He hurt Shippou, of course Shippou would fight back. He got everything he deserved._

_But he was hurt, he wasn't hurting anyone._

_Shippou was fighting, baka! Kaban took the Shikon no Tama. Where was Inuyasha? Where was Kagome? If they were able to fight, Shippou wouldn't have had to do that. Where was Sango? She would have to be unable to fight. They others are dead or dying, and you are worried about an enemy? Who do you care about, Miroku?_

He paused, just inside the cover of the bushes, when he saw the battlefield. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Sango standing, in her armour, but his heart skipped when saw how her arm was hanging. Inuyasha lay, face down, on the ground, unmoving, with Kagome trapped in Kiyoshi's arms. It was too far to hear anything, but Kagome was limping as she was dragged along. He felt sick, knowing that his friends' danger was in no small part due to his cowardice. 

As he started to step forward, he heard a shout of pain. Kagome fell, and Sango struck, her blade laying Kiyoshi's back open. From how he fell, the cut must have touched his spine. As Miroku watched, he was numbed as Sango caught the other hunter and held his dying body in her arms. _She does love him. She's mourning him._ The pain was such that it started to rob Miroku of his sight. The last thing he saw as he sank to his knees were the blurs of Kaede and Shippou kneeling by Inuyasha. 

--- 

_Blood? Kagome? Why are you crying?_ Opening one eye, he saw that he was laying on the ground, in a pool of blood. The smell filling his nose told him it was his own, as did the throb in his head from where something had hit him. _Ink. Kiyoshi threw ink at me, then hit me with the butt of his sword. He wanted me to live as a failure._ His voice was a dry rasp as he tried to speak, "Kag.." 

"Yea should lie still, Inuyasha, yea have lost a great deal of blood." When Kaede's fingers tenderly probed his skull, he felt as if his temple had been hit with ball of molten lead. Putting his arms under him, he tried to push himself upright. "If yea will not take my advice, yea shall have to suffer with the pain." 

On the other side of Inuyasha, a much younger voice, although one that sounded much older than it did when its owner greeted Kagome and him that morning, filled his throbbing ears. "Kiyoshi is dead." 

Feeling the familiar throb of Tessaiga nearby, Inuyasha reached for his sword, sheathing it. "What about his tanuki? And where is Kagome?" 

"I'm over here, Inuyasha." The hanyou turned his head, wincing at the painfully bright sunlight. She was dirty, and trembling, and stank of fear, but she was alright. She sat next to the body of Kiyoshi, obviously dead, her back turned to the corpse, while she cradled Sango's head to her shoulder. The huntress was sobbing, and her arm hung useless at her side. He tried to stand, only to stumble against Kaede. 

"Surrounded by fools I am. I will help yea, Inuyasha." She took his arm and put it over her shoulders. Despite the gravity of the situation, watching Kaede try to be a crutch for Inuyasha, despite the old woman only being elbow high to him, brought a tiny smile to Kagome's face. 

"Feh. I'm not some weak human." Standing unsteadily, wobbling, Inuyasha stumbled towards the young woman's side. The world would not hold still, and the ground next his companions sprang against his knees. Kagome wrapped her free arm around Inuyasha, pulling him to her. 

"Inuyasha." Her eyes were filled with tears of pain, and something else. Something much worse. 

"Not so loud." The pain in her voice triggered something it had many times before, more powerful than the nauseating pain in his head. The hanyou wrapped his arms around Kagome. Feeling another, shaking body under his arm, Inuyasha snarled silently at their fallen enemy. _I am not getting soft, Kiyoshi you asshole, Sango's just in the way._ Unconsciously, he rubbed Kagome's back with one hand, and tried to ignore the same motion from the other. "It's ok, it's over." 

"Inuyasha, I... I lost the Jewel. I'm sorry." Crying, Kagome buried her head into the junction of Inuyasha's shoulder and neck. 

"I got it back, Kagome." She raised her head, finding the young-old eyes of Shippou. His voice sounded distant and hollow, like he was in shock. He held the Shikon no Tama in both hands, a look of revulsion on his young face when he looked down at it. Wordlessly, the kitsune moved behind her, and retied the necklace in place around her neck, before he could give in to it's call. "Don't worry about Kaban, he won't be back." 

Slowly returning to the world, Sango struggled, feeling arms around her, and a bleakness within. _Even Inuyasha feels pity for me._ Looking about, Sango was wrapped in a growing feeling of dread and desperation. "Kirara? Shippou, what happened to Kirara? I need..." 

"She will be fine, child. Shippou took her to my hut, she is already healing. She just needs time to mend, and yea _need_ to have this set." Hooking one hand under Sango's good arm, Kaede gently pulled the huntress to her feet. "Come, I will take yea to her. I fear yea will need to be held for me to attend this joint." 

Standing unevenly, Inuyasha picked Kagome up in arms. After a few false starts, he started to follow the old miko. The young miko in his arms looked up at him. "Inuyasha, should you try to carry me? And what about Kiyoshi?" 

"I'm strong enough to take you back to the village." He looked back, nodding slightly as he saw Shippou struggling silently with the weight of Hairikitsu. _Sango will want that._ His eyes looked back at Kiyoshi, a foe who could have been a friend. A foe who was as powerful as any they had faced, including Naraku and Sesshomaru, maybe even more so. "Leave him for the ravens for now. I'll take care of him later." 

Stumbling along, Inuyasha felt Kagome's eyes on his face. "What? I told you, I'm fine." The hanyou sensed, rather than saw or heard, Shippou beside them. 

"Are you sure?" 

"Wench, did you get hit on the head? I'm fine for now." _I'll pass out when we get home._

--- 

Author's notes:   
When we first met Miroku, he was rather ruthless. Love, survial, revenge, these are all powerful motivators. Too much of any one of these can change you. Given everything else that has happened, I don't think he's playing with a full deck right now. Remember, this all started less than a month after _Forge_. That has been on his mind. 

And Inuyasha, I told you, concussions suck. You are lucky that you have a thick skull and hanyou healing abilities. So, as you can see, Sango did not slay Miroku. At least not directly. Be she now fears that Kiyoshi was the reason why Houshi-sama left. Kiyoshi could have been the man Miroku was. 


	8. Hunter's Heart Chapter 7: Fact

Hunter's Heart (Chapter 7: Fact)   
by Ironraven 

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama. 

This is the afternoon/evening immediately after HH6: Truth. A quick look at the status board shows our heros in the following condition:   
Inuyasha, concussion.   
Kagome, possible broken ankle.   
Sango, dislocated shoulder.   
Kirara, stabbed.   
Shippou, badly shell shocked.   
Miroku, hiding like a craven coward.   
Don't look too good, does it folks? 

--- 

"Kaede, how long will that stuff make Sango sleep?" Kagome winced as her mentor pulled the wrappings tighter around the swelling ankle. She's hadn't been able to put weight on it, but it didn't have any further range of motion than it should, and there was no grinding feeling. The older miko had declared it badly sprained and twisted, but fortunately not broken. 

"Hopefully she shall sleep the night through." Putting the metal clip that came with the bandage against the fabric, Kaede released it, letting it stretch back and capture the teeth of the impossibly light silvery stuff. "She needs her rest. Yea should not be trying to move on that yet. Is the pain bearable?" 

Using one of Kaede's canes, Kagome levered herself to her feet, grunting softly as she put the weight on her foot. "Yeeaah. I took some aspirin, that should help with the swelling." Hobbling painfully, she made her way to her friend's side. 

_Asp... Oh, yes, the willow pills._ "Yea should not be on that foot yet, Kagome." Shaking her head, the old woman was amazed by the stubbornness and strength of youth. Inuyasha had carried the girl here, or almost. He had finally collapsed from the pain or a cracked skull just outside the hut, spilling the young miko like a spilled sheaf of grass. "Sango will heal if she rests. Yea are both young, and strong; these are both minor injuries. Kirara's injuries, while serious, were healing before I saw them, and she too will be fine. Even Inuyasha is healing, but it will take him a little longer." 

Looking down at the sleeping hunter, and the fire cat curled at her side, Kagome felt her lip start to tremble. "Kaede-sama, how can we do this?" 

"Do what, child?" 

"Defeat Naraku, find all the shards of the Shikon no Tama. Kiyoshi could have killed us all. I can't walk, Sango can't fight, and Inuyasha can't do either. Kiyoshi was just human. Naraku has more of the Jewel, and he is stronger than any of us." 

--- 

Miroku stood along the side of the river, staring at it has hard as he could. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see Sango holding the dying form of Kiyoshi. His fingers angrily turned a small stone, trying to find a crack he could use to tear it apart. _Sango mourns him, even after he became an enemy._

_She never loved me, did she?_ Looking down at the stone in cloth covered hand, the young man curled his fingers around the innocent lump of rock, strangling it. _I need to face it, she never really loved me. All I was was a shadow of Kiyoshi. We looked the same, we acted the same, we even sounded the same. I got played with, and she probably never even knew she was doing it._ Angrily, he hurled the stone into the gently flowing water. 

"Maybe it is time for us to go. What do you think, Hachi?" 

Miroku waited a long moment, waiting for his companion's voice. "Hachi?" 

Looking over each shoulder, Miroku sought any sign of his friend. Shoulders slumping, his voice was quiet as he called out again, "Hachi?" 

Reaching for his staff, Miroku started walking. He could feel the small water flask he had made at his side, along with the bundle Inuyasha had given him; there was nothing else to pack. He didn't know where he was going, just so long as it was away from the village. _How did Kagome describe it? Oh, yes, 'thataway'._

--- 

"Shippou?!" Kagome looked around, her face lined with concern. "Kaede? Have you seen Shippou?" 

"Not since he returned with you and Inuyasha." Gently probing the skull of the hanyou, Kaede nodded in satisfaction. The bone was healing well, and the skin over it had long since closed. Just a matter of time until he woke. "Perhaps he needs some time to think about what happened to him today." 

Straightening the blanket she had laid over Inuyasha, Kagome looked around again, as if expecting to see the boy if she just looked again. On it's own volition, her hand gave Inuyasha's ear a comforting rub. "I just want to be sure he's alright. He was upset." 

Painfully pushing herself to her feet, Kagome glanced about, trying to think like a scared little boy. "Shippou, where are you?" 

"Kagome, I am sure he is well and unhurt. And I have told yea to stay...," watching her student hobbling off toward the center of the village, Kaede's voice ran down. "... off the ankle." 

--- 

The sun was yellow and bright in a cloudless sky, warm, not hot, even with a total lack of wind. Not a single sound could be heard in the forest, not a bird, nor a bug, nor twig cracking underfoot. The plants were alive, but missing their vibrancy, their vitality, like a faded painting. A sole figure stirred in the emptiness. 

_I don't remember getting here._ Sango tried to remember how she had gotten into the forest, while also trying to figure out what was wrong in the forest itself. _Where are my weapons?_ Looking down at her hands, the Huntress' eyes confirmed what her skin told her- she was not only unarmed, but her armour was missing. So long accustomed to the hug of the thin second skin, she felt naked despite her peasant's garb. 

Walking down the side of the hill she was on, Sango looked for any signs of water. Follow a stream, and it becomes a river. Follow a river, it becomes the ocean, but it will have a village on it first. As she moved, there were no sounds other than the brush of fabric on fabric. Even more than the lack of her equipment, the lack of sound unnerved her. 

Her feet didn't hurt her as she walked, as they had since being frozen late that winter. As she thought about it, neither did her back, for the first time in nearly two years. Looking down at her hands and forearms, they were smooth and unscarred. Her fingers told her that her face was likewise free of any raised remnants of old wounds. The scars that had become a part of her self identity were gone, not faded, but as if they had never been. 

"Hello!" No echo answered her, nor did any voices, but she had heard her own voice. "At least I can still speak." She realized her mouth was dry, almost painfully so, while her belly was empty. Her parched mouth strengthen her desire to find water. 

Almost as if she wished it into being, she found water as her leg sank nearly to the knee into a small brook. Only when she had pulled her foot out did she notice its noise, as if it had flown in silence until it realized there was someone to hear its babbling, but even its voice was muted into a gossipy whisper. 

Kneeling beside it, Sango pondered the ill looking foliage around her, but the urge to drink was too powerful. She dipped both hands into the water, leaning over it. From within the flat-looking water, she saw her reflection. 

The reflection's hair was bound back, as if for combat, the bone wedge of the Hairikitsu showing over it's shoulder. The clothes of a commoner were gone, replaced with mask and armour of a Youkai Taijya. Her reflection's face bled from the cuts and scrapes of years of youkai hunting, every single one of them at once. With eyes hard and angry, Reflection stared back at Sango with unconcealed hatred and disgust. Gasping in fright, Sango tried to pull her hands back. 

"No you don't!" Reflection's hands broke the surface of the water, closing around Sango's forearms, pulling the girl closer to the water. Both Sango and Reflection were wrist deep in each other's realms. 

Without having to look down, Sango could feel her Reflection's blood oozing from the wounds that should have been scars on her unmarked hands. "No, this can't be. This is impossible!" 

Eyes narrowing to slits, Reflection shook her head. "You should have seen enough by now to know anything is possible, Sango." 

Sango struggled, trying to break free, but she couldn't pull her hands free from the water. "Let go of me! Who are you?" 

"I am you, Sango." 

"What? You can't be, you are a reflection." 

"I am the you who wouldn't quit. The one who wouldn't run away." The already cool voice dropped a notch, becoming wintry. "I'm not the you who could let him die." 

Eyes widening in shock, Sango listened to her own voice, frozen by anger and muffled by a mask, coming to her from the water's surface. "But I had no choice, he would have killed Kagome!" 

"No, he couldn't. He never could have hurt any of you. But you killed him, any way." 

"But Kiyoshi was-" 

Face twisting as if the words carried a stench so vial it bored through her mask, Reflection cut Sango off sharply, "KIYOSHI! This has nothing to do with that psychopath. He betrayed us twice. I killed him, because I had to. But you killed HIM!" 

"Who?" 

"Is your heart so fickle you have forgotten already?" Angrily, Reflection grabbed for Sango's shoulders, pulling them both elbow deep, until their faces were nearly touching. "Are you telling me you already forgot about Houshi-sama?" 

Her Reflection's accusation stabbed into Sango's chest as she felt a tear slide down her cheek. "No. I will never forget him." 

"Then why did you kill him?" A fiery tear of anger and betrayal fell from Reflection's cheek, colliding with Sango's chilled tear of loss at the water's boundary. The two tears cancelled each other, leaving no ripple or sign of their existences. 

"I didn't! I loved him, I could never hurt him!" 

In a voice chilled so low it should have instantly frozen the stream, Reflection spoke. "You lying tramp. You snuggled into Kiyoshi's arms so fast you couldn't even tell my Houshi who the other guy was. You tore out Houshi-sama's heart, and you didn't even care when you stepped on it." 

"No, it wasn't like that. I loved him, but he never cared back, always chasing other women. You have no idea." 

"Yes I do! He was protecting us from his curse. Or have you forgotten that night so soon? Or the beads around my leg, 'special girl'?" 

"But he asked all those girls to bare his child. How could he do that if he loved me?" 

"So you wouldn't die like his mother did. Don't you remember what he promised, what you promised? If you really loved him, you would have seen that he was protecting you. If you really loved him, you would have followed him the night he died. But you didn't, did you?" Waiting, Reflection glared furiously at Sango for a long moment, before giving her a shake, shouting the question again. "Did you?!" 

Subdued and battered, Sango shook her head. "I'm sorry." She slumped in her Reflection's grip, sobbing, repeating those two words as a mantra. 

"I am not the one who need to hear those words." Reflection shifted her grip, tightening her hold. "But you will be able to tell him soon enough." 

Sango felt one hand move to the space between her shoulder blades, the other on the back of her head. Her eyes widened as she felt the pull of her Reflection, forcing her face through the surface of the water. Struggling, she pushed against Reflection, but that only seemed to pull Sango deeper into the water and tighter into the lethal embrace. A rouge part of her paniced mind observed that it was darker, colder underwater, but she could hear the insects and birds on this side of the river. 

The bloodied, armoured version of the Huntress gasped and choked. As Reflection drank down what was to her water, she noticed as her eyes closed that while this side of the river was warmer, it was silent and lifeless. 

--- 

Kagome hobbled back to Kaede's hut, frustrated and afraid, not having been able to find Shippou, and her ankle throbbing. Collapsing next to Inuyasha, she sighed in disgust. 

"I see yea did not find him." 

Kagome looked up at Kaede as she stepped from the hut. "No. It's getting dark out, where could he be? I'm worried about him." 

Kaede settled herself into her doorway, watching the young woman as she checked her hanyou companion. "He is of an age where he is no longer a fully a child, but not yet a young man. Yea know as well as I do, Shippou can take care of himself." 

"Yes, Kaede-obabaa, I can." Stepping from around the corner, Shippou moved slowly, carefully, making no noise except for soft squishing sounds. His clothes and fur were plastered to him, soaked with water, as if he'd been bathing for hours. In the darkening twilight, he seemed somehow taller than he had been earlier. His voice sounded hollow, just like it had earlier, sending chills down Kagome's back. "I can take care of myself very well now." 

"Shippou! Where have you been?" Nearly ignoring the stabbing pain in her leg as she got to her feet, Kagome limped her way to him as quickly as her ankle would allow. "Where have you been? I was worried." 

"I know." Shippou turned his head to face Kaede, his face blank. "Sango and Kirara, they are not seriously injured?" 

"Nay, they will be well soon enough." Rising to her feet slowly, the miko slowly looked over the young youkai before her. "Kirara's injuries are nearly healed, and Sango's shoulder will be well enough with some time to mend." 

Kagome likewise allowed herself to examine her ward, looking past him, to his ki. "Shippou, are you ok?" Showing her concern, she reached out, resting her hand gently on his shoulder. The kitsune shrugged her hand away, and started to walk past her. With every beat of her heart, Kagome grew more concerned, and put her hand on his shoulder again. "Shippou?" 

This time, Shippou pulled himself away from her touch violently, twisting to face her. Teeth bared in a snarl, a sheath of blue flame enshrouded him like a second fur. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" 

Kagome yanked her hand back, raising them both to her face in shock and fear. "Shippou?" 

"No one touch me! I'm a monster, and it's all his fault." Despite the anger of the words, the last sentence was delivered in a flat, cold voice. Turning away, he moved closer to Inuyasha, until he was standing at the hanyou's side, looking down at him. 

In a voice trained by years of dealing with people in various states of mental disarray, Kaede spoke quietly, but firmly. "Who's fault, Shippou?" 

Continuing in the soft, chilled voice, Shippou spoke. "Inuyasha's. He taught me to fight. To win, he said. All he did was make into a monster, a killer. Just like HIM!" The last word broke through whatever emotions were struggling in the boy, rising into a shout, with a physical punctuation mark provided by kicking Inuyasha in the ribs. 

Horrified and angered by the attack, Kagome's voice was a shriek, "Shippou! NO!" 

As if the blow stirred something, a low but steady voice rose from Inuyasha's lips. "Stay out of this, Kagome." Pushing himself into a kneeling position, Inuyasha sat before his attacker and friend. "You are saying this is my fault? Who was it who took the Jewel? Who was it who got it back?" 

"I did, I got the Jewel back! You screwed up, you failed!" 

"Yeah, I did." Kneeling there, his hands on his knees, head down, Inuyasha closed his eyes. "You didn't." 

Shaking in his rage, Shippou's voice became a high pitched scream. "I killed him, just like you taught me to! I burned him and left him to die!" As viciously as his small body could, the youkai struck at the hanyou with his fists. "You made me into a monster, a murderer! Just one more who killed over the Shikon no Tama!" 

For several minutes, Inuyasha allowed the attack to continue. As Shippou's blows start to slow, the hanyou snapped his hand up, grabbing the boy's wrist, halting the blow close enough for Shippou to feel Inuyasha's breath on his knuckles. Inuyasha's eyes were still closed when he reasied his head. "Shut up! You and Sango, you didn't fail. You saved yourselves, the Shikon no Tama, and Kagome. You did what you needed to do." Slowly, the half-demon opened his eyes, their yellows burning like miniature suns. "You did what I needed to do." 

Squirming in his friend's grasp and gaze, Shippou tried to pull his hand from Inuyasha's. Hissing in rage, teeth bared, the boy's voice was nearly silent. "I hate you." 

Such anger, such hatred, Kagome had never heard before from the kit. The display of rage had shocked both miko into silence, but the pure loathing of Shippou's words broke through. "Shippou, you can't meant that!" 

Ignoring the girl behind him, Inuyasha's voice was low and calm, reasonable sounding. "Fine, you can get in line. Lots of people hate me, one more doesn't really matter. And you can leave; you, the monk, Sango, nothing is keeping any of you here." 

Feeling like she was watching her world being shredded before her, Kagome couldn't allow herself to just watch. "Inuya-" 

"No, I mean it. Shippou, if you hate me, go. Me and Kagome were finding shards just fine by ourselves, before any of you showed up. We don't need you." _But it would be boring without you here, runt._

Kagome started to step forward, to separate the demons if she had to, when she felt a hand holding her back. "Nay, child, he is right. No one should be here if it is not their wish." 

Looking at the faces of his friends, his family, Shippou slumped as much as he could with his wrist in Inuyasha's unyielding grip. With tears streaming down his cheeks, his voice was broken by sobs. "I want to stay." 

Gently, Inuyasha released his hold, allowing the boy to sink to the ground. His voice was soft, and as kind as any had ever heard it. "You did what I taught you to do. And why I taught you to." 

"Inuyasha, I'm sorry." Moving like lightening, Shippou wrapped his arms around the older demon's chest, sobbing into Inuyasha's chest. "I'm sorry." 

Confused, Inuyasha clumsily ran his fingers along the back of his young friend's head. Blushing, he looked to Kagome for help. 

Smiling in the dim light, Kaede saw the dog boy in a new light, in a way maybe no one had in a half century, other than Kagome. _So, this is what they see in him._

Sinking to her knees beside the demons, Kagome's hand replaced Inuyasha's on the back of the child's head, stroking as the white haired youth cradled the boy in unsure arms. Kagome's voice was soft and soothing as she spoke, "It's ok, Shippou. We know, we know..." The older demon shook his head, surprising them all, as she tried to take his burden. 

His face buried in the fabric on Inuyasha's shirt, the boy sobbed. "I can hear him. The screaming won't go away." 

--- 

Coughing, sputtering, Sango woke to find herself in a river. Or at least what she could assume was a river. Looking about, she should see only the murky greyness of dense fog, evil smelling black water, and a nearby rock nearly lost in the fog. Either the rock was floating, or there was a current taking her towards it. _Rocks don't float. I must have been hit harder than I thought._

Kicking towards the rock, she found it to be a mushroom-like pillar, with little purchase for her hands as she pulled herself onto it. Laying on the smooth, greyish stone she wrung the filthy fluid from her hair, then tried to wipe it off her skin as best she could. _I have a dream about killing myself, and then I wake up naked in a river. What else can go wrong?_

"Hello?" 

Muted and distorted by the fog, something that may have been her own voice rumbled back clearly. "Hello." 

"Where is this place? Am I dead?" 

"Dead" 

_Oh._ Shivering in the cool air, Sango curled against herself for warmth and comfort. 

--- 

"Feh, he's finally asleep." Untangling himself from the exhausted grasp of the boy, Inuyasha passed Shippou to Kagome. 

"What happened? He's been in fights before." Laying the kit at her side, Kagome covered him in the blankets that had been covering Inuyasha. "I haven't seen him this upset since we met him." 

Standing and stretching, Inuyasha rolled his head about on his shoulders, his neck popping. "He hasn't had to kill anyone before. We've been the ones to save him; this time, he had to do it himself." 

Running her fingers through the still river-damp hair of her young companion, Kagome traced her eyes along the new lines and strains in the boy's face. "You really think he killed Kaban?" 

Sniffing gently, the hanyou's nose wrinkled and his ears swung back at the stench of burned fur, meat and grease that still clung to the boy. "Yeah, he did. Maybe not right away, but I doubt Kaban is still alive." 

"How?" Stroking the boy as he slept, Kagome couldn't imagine him fighting the fully grown demon, or what it had done to him. "Kaban is so much bigger, Shippou couldn't have beat him, even if you had taught him everything you know." 

_So you know._ Cringing slightly now that his secret was out, Inuyasha crossed his arms. "Kitsune-bi. Burned him to death." Shaking his head, Dog Boy changed the subject. "Is Sango sleeping?" 

Returning from checking on the huntress, Kaede nodded. "Hai, it is better that Sango not wake too soon. She should wake in the morning. Kirara is nearly healed, she was stretching when I checked them." 

"She didn't hear us? She slept through all of this?" Kagome looked through the door, at her friend. 

Crouching down, Inuyasha picked up Shippou's sleeping form, and carried him inside without a word to either miko. As he passed, Kaede nodded. "Hai. The hunter can only hear us in her dreams." Smiling gently, the old woman passed her student the cane that had been dropped in Shippou's outburst. "Yea dropped this. If yea do not rest, at least use this, or do not come complaining to me if yea are left lame. And yea to need rest, Inuyasha." 

Not stopping on his way past the women, Inuyasha walked in the direction of the battle, pausing to grab a pair of spades from the side of a nearby hut. "I've got something to bury." 

Making his way to the spring where he last knew the monk to be camping at, Inuyasha expected to find the bouzu sleeping or meditating by a fire. Instead, he found a collapsed lean to, and a cold fire ring. Sniffing, Inuyasha turned to find himself face to face with Hachi. In his frustration, the hanyou bared his teeth unconsciously at the tanuki. "Where's the monk?" 

Quivering slightly, Hachi took a step back. "Master Miroku left, shortly before sunset." 

"Left where?" Inuyasha sniffed deeply, his ears twitching as he sorted through the scents. 

"I don't think he knows." 

"Feh," Shaking his head, muttered angrily as he started to walk off. "Fine, he can run. Who needs him around, anyways." 

"Inuyasha, are you going to follow him? It might not be safe. He saw Lady Sango mourning Kiyoshi. He thinks he was a fool." 

The words brought dog boy to a stop. "Maybe he is, but she cares for that pervert." Sighing, Inuyasha shook his throbbing head for probably the millionth time tonight. "Now what?" 

Tilting his head, the tunuki had only one answer to the question. "Why did you come for him?" 

"I was going to bury the bodies. I figured he could help with that much." 

Shivering at the memories, Hachi felt a chill breeze wrap around his belly. "Body; Master Miroku took care of Kaban." 

--- 

_I'm dead, and I'm sitting naked on a rock. This isn't what I expected._ Shivering, Sango watched the oppressive fog swirl around her, unsure if it was dawn, dusk, or even noon on a cloudy day. _Is this hell? Or heaven? Or maybe the kami and hotoke are like merchants, and do no business before thier morning meal._

The fog swirled back on itself, a tendril of it reaching towards her. It seemed to throb and pulse for a moment, before a familiar voice come from it, but as if she was hearing from a distance. "You screwed up, you failed." 

Eyes wide at the accusation, Sango shook her head angrily. "No, Shippou, you have it all wrong!" 

The lower voice of Inuyasha came from behind her in the fog. "Sango... you saved yourself..." 

Whirling, Sango felt her body take the accusing tone of the words like a blow, as a tear started to well in her eye. "You don't understand." " 

Through the hissing anger, Sango could barely make out the kit's words. "I hate you..." 

Ever syllable battered her, physically, mentally, forcing the huntress to her knees. "Kagome, tell them, tell them I had to save you. Please, I had to, Kiyoshi would have killed you if I went after the Jewel! If I had any other choice, I would have saved the Jewel!" 

"You can't mean that." 

"Ka-go-me?" Her voice cracking, Sango put her hands over her ears, trying to block the voices of her friends. "Please, tell them, I had no choice." 

"You can leave... the monk, Sango, nothing is keeping any of you here." 

"I didn't kill him, Inuyasha. Kagome, please, you must believe me." Feeling the tears flowing down her cheeks, Sango did nothing to stop them. 

"No, I mean it... Me and Kagome were finding shards just fine by ourselves, before any of you showed up. We don't need you." Though his voice sounded nearly calm , Inuyasha's words tore into Sango's mind. 

"It is better that Sango not wake." The kind, soft, motherly voice of Kaede slithered it's way through the mists. "Hunter? Only in her dreams." 

Any further words from the elderly miko were shattered by Sango's shriek. "NO!! I'M NOT DEAD, I CAN'T BE! YOU ARE MY FRIENDS, MY FAMILY, HOW CAN YOU SAY THESE THINGS!" 

"Because it is true, Sango-love." With the solidity and confidence of life, Kiyoshi strode from the fog, his footsteps leaving not even a ripple as he calmly crossed the surface of the water. "Every thing you are is because someone was able to support you." 

Tears of fear and anguish running down her face, Sango recoiled from his touch on her cheek, of his finger lifting a tear. 

Shaking his head slightly, Kiyoshi crouched before her, sliding his hands into the sleeves of his black hakima. "You were a hunter because your father spoiled you. You always needed someone to back you up on the hard ones. Sure, a centipede or a rat you could do, but not anything really challenging. You could have been a Hunter's woman, but you couldn't settle for that. No, you are too good for that, Sango, you had to be a Hunter and turn your back on tradition." 

Shaking her head jerkily, Sango's voice was choked by sobs. "No, leave me alone. I killed you." 

Kiyoshi settled back on his heels for a moment, his head tilted in thought. "I am not the only one. I would have used the Jewel to bring back our people, even your father. But you couldn't let that happen, could you? They all would have seen how much of a failure you are." 

"No, you wouldn't bring them back, you are evil." 

Slowly rising from his crouch, Kiyoshi's lips curled in a sad smirk. "You think you know my heart, Sango-love? You don't even know your own. If you knew mine, I never would have chased other women. You are cold and unfeeling, like bedding a lizard. Our village, your father, your brother, if you'd been a better hunter, Sango, they would still be alive." 

"You used me, you betrayed us!" 

"I loved you, Sango. If you had loved me back, it wouldn't have happened like that." 

Face twisting in rage, Sango's mind flooded with the memories of finding Kiyoshi with that other woman. "LIAR!" 

Smiling in painful satisfaction, Kiyoshi crossed his arms across his chest. Shaking his head, his torso started to slide aside along the line left by Sango's blade, smoothly and silently, like two blocks of metal separated by oil. With a soft splash, his upper half landed in the foul water. Sango could only stare in shock as his two halves were swallowed by the inky river. As his head went under, he uttered his last words. "You broke my heart." 

For a long time, Sango sat there, staring at the place her former betrothed has stood. At first, she thought it was her making the noises, but they grew louder behind her. A whimper of pain, from within the fog, male, and familiar. Fresh tears, these happy, sprung to her eyes. "Houshi-sama! Over here!" 

The river carried Miroku, curled in pain atop a rock like her own, floating down the river. Sango blushed at his nakedness, then at her own. "Houshi-sama!" 

As he came closer, Sango could see him more clearly. He was holding his hands before him, palms pressed together. His rock bobbed a little when he raised his head. "No, Sango, stay back." 

Kneeling on her steady rock, Sango reached for him and his platform, straining. "I can help, I can save you." 

Shaking head bitterly, Miroku curled himself tighter around his hands. "No body can, I'm dead." 

"I can try, please, reach for my hand, Houshi-sama!" Sango's fingers brushed the rock, pushing it away. "No! Give me your hand, Houshi-sama." 

"Why? You didn't even give me a marker." 

"I'm sorry. Take my hand! Come back to me, and I can save you." 

"Save me for what? It is too late now" 

"No, it isn't. Just give me your hand. I lo..," as she spoke he started to pull his hands apart, his eyes on her outstretched fingers. But as his palms separated, the Kazanna opened, pulling him into it with a whistling pop. In less than a second, he was gone. "..ve you. No. No. NO!!" 

The pure whiteness of the fog rushed in to swallow her, blocking the sight of the slowly sinking beads that were all that was left of Miroku. Cold, cruel laughter rippled out of the white fog that surrounded her. An evil sound that had burned into her mind years ago. "Ku-ku-ku-ku" 

--- 

In the morning sunlight, Inuyasha crouched protectively on a roof top, his hands on the wood to help remind him the world wasn't moving. Inside, Kaede was checking on the sick and young, Kagome and Shippou helping and observing. The boy had been quiet when he woke, but it seemed his rage was spent. At some point in the night, Myouga had returned. 

"And you held him, Master Inuyasha? Why, it is so unlike you to be parental." 

"I don't' know. Maybe because you left when I was about that age, flea, leaving me totally alone. I ain't gonna do that to Shippou. No one is abandoning him." 

"Master, you know that I had taught you what I could. There were things that needed attending to, and I returned as soon as I could." Kneeling on the hanyou's shoulder, the jiji bowed humbly. "You knew everything you needed to; you seem to have been unaffected by it. If anything, it made you stronger." 

"Yeah, you did teach me. How to read, how to write, how to behave around nobles. What to eat, how to hunt, how to light a fire, I had to teach myself those things, so don't tell me it made me stronger." In his anger, Inuyasha brought his hand down, squishing the flea, before flicking him to the ground. Seeing the others leaving the hut, Inuyasha jumped to the next roof line, following, not taking his eyes from them. At one point, Shippou looked up at him and smiled, just a little, then Kagome turned, and she smiled a lot. Even though he wasn't really aware of it, Inuyasha grinned in return. 

The scent of fear from his comrades pulled Inuyasha from his haze. They were gathered around the entry to Kaede's hut, gasping. Half-drawing his sword, Inuyasha leapt down. "What is it?" 

"Sango. She's gone." 

Inside, the normally tidy hut was slightly out of order, as if someone had packed in a hurry and just as quickly tried to cover it up. There was no hunter asleep on the floor, nor was there a firecat. A quick sniff told Inuyasha's hanyou senses they had been gone for a while now. In their place, lay a piece of Kagome's paper, and one of her funny ink-sticks. 

Kaede picked it up, and started to read. "Aye, this eye of mine is getting old. Kagome, if yea would." 

With trembling hands and voice, Kagome read the carefully drawn letter. 'Dear everyone. 

'I am leaving. I see now that I have done more to harm than to help over the years. You are right, I am a failure, and I beg your forgiveness. If I had been a true Youkai Taijya, I would have been stronger. Houshi-sama would be alive, and Kiyoshi never would have endangered you. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have woken up, but I did. Your mercy shall forever be a mystery, but I thank you for it. I love you all- you gave me a family, as much as my own did. Please do not follow. 

'-Sango' 

--- 

Author's notes:   
Was I rough on the kid? Maybe. Contrary to popular fiction, inflicting serious or fatal bodily harm on another rarely causes you to have an immediate, live altering realization, as you are more concerned with staying alive. The "holy shit, I just killed someone" happens after the adrenalin wears off, your heart slows down, and you can think about it. 

And for those of you who don't know the kuku, that is the white cloak that was mentioned in the Prolouge's AN. I just realised Naraku doesn't sound like that in the dubs on CN. 


	9. Hunter's Heart Epilogue: Faith

Hunter's Heart (Epilouge: Faith)   
by Ironraven 

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama. 

Were were we? Miroku and Sango are running away, after misplacing themselves. Will they find that which they seek, or will they fail in thier quests and die? 

Cats are people to, you know. 

Oh, and a shoutout to Bluefuzzyelf- thank you for being the 50th reviewer. 

--- 

Kirara's belly growled gently. It had been many long, hard days since they had left the others. Her mistress was in not yet ready to travel, but had insisted, so Kirara had carried the stubborn hunter. Stretching, Kirara felt the slight pull in her shoulder, the last twinge of the tanuki's blade. She was still confused, but she knew that her mistress needed some time away. Storm-eyes had once been a friend and ally, but his true nature had been shown. Again. This time, he was gone for good. 

Turning, Kirara watched her mistress. Sango's arm still moved stiffly, as she looked about, clearing a spot for the fire, before Kirara gently nudged her out of the way, digging a suitable hole with just a few strokes of her paw. 

"Thank you, Kirara. Why don't you go hunt, you must be hungry." Scratching her friend under the chin, Sango tried and failed to smile. "I'll be ok. Eat, we will continue our search for Kohaku in the morning." After giving her friend a soft push, the Huntress moved into the nearest thicket to find wood for the fire. 

--- 

Sitting next to his own fire, Miroku bit into the first ripe peach of the spring. He smiled to himself, focusing on the taste of the food rather than a hollowness food could never fill. He had walked through the first night, and was as far from the Bone Eater's Well as a man on a good horse would be in the same amount of time. He had been skirting villages and fields, avoiding people. 

"I forgot how nice it was to be on my own. I can't believe I had gotten used to them." Speaking for the first time since the dawn, Miroku leaned back on his elbows after licking the last juice from his fingers. "Hachi, how long has it been since it was just us?" 

The forest's silence spoke back, it's answer wiping the smile from the monk's face. _Alone, really alone. I've never be alone before. I've always had someone with me._ With a sad sigh, Miroku tucked the second peach into his robes and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, staring into the fire. The sweet juices of the succulent fruit tasted like ash in his mouth now. The fire popped slightly, the wood still damp from the previous night's rains, but no other noises intruded on his isolation. For some time he sat there, his eyes gazing into the fire, watching it consume the wood and his thoughts. 

The monk jumped when an angry growl tore him from his self pity. Turning, he reached for his shajuko, knowning he'd never be able to reach it before his attacker was on top of him. Then he stopped, seeing his foe. With a furious snarl, Kirara took a step closer to the man she thought of as Airhand. He raised his hands, showing them to be empty as a nervous smile slipped across his lips. 

Miroku's fear and shame filled her nose; she could hear his heart start to beat faster. _WHITEDOG LIED!!_

"Hello, Kirara." Backing up slowly, Miroku felt a cold sweat break along his spine. "Would it help if I said I was sorry?" Every step that the firecat took was one more that the monk went back, until he felt a tree at his back. Closing his eyes, he felt her breath as his mind's eye conjured memories of her teeth. _I guess all my karma is about to be paid back._

--- 

"Hey, you don't have to push so hard." Kirara butted her head in the small of his back again, growling in response. Stumbling through the thorned bushes, the houshi entered a small clearing. 

Sango lay on her side to protect her shoulder, next to the unlit fire. A tinderbox lay on the ground next to the pile of tinder and kindling, as if thrown down in disgust. Miroku stood there, watching her breath for a long time, not speaking, not thinking. Part of him wanted to embrace her; another, just as large, wanted to run away. His breath caught in his throat as he saw the pain in her face, the tightly clenched lids of her eyes. The ache inside his chest grew, threatening to consume him as he stared. He knelt across the firebuild from her. 

_She's shivering._ Finally breaking his eyes from Sango's slumbering form, he reached his uncursed hand into the pyramid of twigs. Miroku grimaced at what he found, the tinder damp. _No wonder, the spark couldn't take._ Reaching into his robes, his hand sought the small, untouched bundle that Inuyasha had given to him, nearly a moon ago. Drawing it out, he pulled the small box of thick paper from within the bandages. 

_I've watched Kagome use these...._ He slid the finger thick twigs away from the tinder, fluffing the lightest material. Fumbling, he eventually succeeded in opening the small box, surprisingly right side up. He shook the box gently, before selecting a match, then slid the tray closed. Holding the box in hand, he stroked the thick bulb of the sliver along the box. Once, twice, three times, without success. Frowning, he turned the box and the match over and over in his hands. Experimentally, he ran the tiny stick over the rough side of the box, and was rewarded with a tiny flame. Dropping the box, he quickly cupped his hand around the dancing heat, sheltering it from the wind as he lowered it into the mound. He smiled as the flame licked and bit into the tinder, then flinched as it also nipped at his fingers of his cursed hand. He dropped the match, killing it's flame, but it had served well. 

Eyes flicking between Sango and the fire, Houshi-sama sat in silence until she stopped shivering. He sat for a moment, watching her relax a bit, but the pain and fear never left her face. Creeping silently, he moved to sit next to her. He reached, as if to stroke her hair, but he stopped himself. Wincing in pain, he stood and started to walk away. Pausing by her carry cloth, he took the peach from within his robe, and set it atop her supplies, next to the tinder box. 

"Houshi-sama?" 

Her voice, blurred with sleep, froze him where he stood. He felt ice build up in his blood, jamming it in his veins so the fire mixed with it could burn his soul. To hear her say his name, especially her name for him, made his hair stand on end. 

"Houshi-sama!" Scrambling to her knees, Sango felt her heart start to race, beating so hard she feared it would burst. She could feel her hands shaking as if she was nearly frozen. "Is it you?" 

"Hai." Fear and joy competed within him, until his last image of her, holding Kiyoshi's body, drowned both emotions. But even as the jealousy struck, memories of her fought to evaporate the tide of inner toxins. No matter how much he wanted to hate her, he couldn't, not really. But he could not face her, either. 

_Turn around, please._ Tracing her eyes along his neck and back, Sango could see the lines of tension. How had being dead changed him? What had brought him back? "I'm sorry, Houshi-sama." 

His hair bristled at her words, feeling the anger of abandonment trying to surge out, but it was mixed with feeling warm, truly warm, for the first time in a month. Miroku clenched his eyes tightly as he spoke, "For what, Sango?" 

"It's all my fault, I should have remembered Kiyoshi's betrayal. If I had, you wouldn't be a ghost, none of this would have happened." 

Turning, Miroku's face was twisted in confusion, then he felt his belly clench. She was kneeling, head down, her hands on her knees, meek and small. Not like Sango at all. "I'm not a ghost, Sango." 

_But I can see him. If he isn't a ghost... Only the dead can see the dead._ "Oh," slowly, she raised her head, surprised at her dry cheeks. His face was a collection of every emotion she could name, his whole hand reaching slightly to her. "It changes nothing. This is my fault, all of it." 

The pain in her voice, the guilt, they broke down his last defense. The anger he had denied clinging to for so long withered like an injured limb inside his heart. "No, it isn't. I should have trusted you. I didn't, I ran away." Sinking to his knees, he sat part way around the fire from her. 

"I should have followed you. Or gone looking. But I didn't." Hugging her arms around herself, Sango looked into the fire. Inside of it, she could see her past, laughing at her. "Kiyoshi wasn't always like that, he could have been a better man. But he just didn't want to be." 

Despite the fire, Miroku's blood chilled at the mention of her former betrothed. "But he wasn't all bad, was he?" _If he had, how could he have been as close to you, Sango?_

Sango jerked her head up, the faintest seed of a smile on her lips. "No, are you all good?" To prove her point, she cupped her hand and reached up with it, just a little. 

Houshi-sama grinned sheepishly as he nodded, granting her the point. "I'm sorry, I try to change, but things are drawn to my hand." Looking the smile on his face, he realized what he had just said. _Baka! What were you thinking, saying something so stupid! Why do you think she ran to Kiyoshi- because of that wandering hand._ Looking down, Miroku tried to find another topic, any topic. "How is your arm." 

Reaching up to cup her shoulder, Sango gave it a few experimental swings. _Being dead does have one advantage._ "It is better now, still a little stiff. I've been taking it easy, but I've needed to use it. If Kagome or Kaede were here, they would want to sling it, but I don't think they care anymore." Feeling the emptiness of the loss of a second family, Sango fought back a sniff of pain. _They didn't want me anyway._

Stunned and confused, Miroku reached out to her, his hand settling on hers. Something horrible had happened to Sango, and it scared him to see her like this. "Of course they care about you, what makes you think they don't?" 

As Sango recounted a chain of events starting with Myouga waking her in the night, it became difficult to hold back the tears. They finally broke free as she told of watching him be sucked into his own Kazaana, the voices of the others. "And then Kaede said it would be better if I was dead." 

"It was just a dream." Stroking her hair, he cradled her cheek against his shoulder. He knew he had never done this, but he remembered all the times he thought he had. "Do you remember the night I woke up screaming your name?" Against him, she nodded, unable to speak through the tears. "I dreamed you had died, it was my fault. It seemed so real, but it never happened. You didn't die... like that." 

Sango pulled back, her eyes unable to look at him. "But I let you die." 

"Sango, listen to me. You didn't kill me, none of this has been your fault. You take the blame sooner than you should." Using his finger, he lifted her chin, looking into her desperate eyes. "I would have died a long time ago without you." 

"Houshi-sama, I want you to promise me something. I want you to promise you won't go away again." 

"I promise, I will stay right-" 

Any further words that might have been on his lips were trapped under hers as she kissed him, holding him tight. The pain of being alone, of watching him with other girls, of knowing that she could loose him, it was all over. Only death could have pulled her from his side, and that was done. They would always be together, she could accept that. Breaking the kiss, she rested her chin in the join of his neck and shoulder, while she rubbed her temple comfortingly on his jaw. His warmth gave her the strength she needed, his scent the purpose she had lost when Inuyasha had returned alone. She only needed to know one thing, and she could be happy. "Houshi-sama, how did I die?" 

Raising his nose from the long, fine strands of her hair, Miroku frowned in confusion. "In my dream?" 

Leaning back from him, studying his face, Sango shook her head. "How did I really die?" 

Frowning slightly in confusion, Miroku shook his head. "Sango, you are not dead." 

"But I can see you. If you aren't a ghost, how else...." A look of angry realization swarmed across the huntress' face as she pushed herself away from Miroku. Her face flashed red, then drained as she hissed at him, "You bastard." Climbing to her feet, she could feel the rage welling inside her. "YOU BASTARD!!" 

Miroku had started to climb to his feet, only to be nearly knocked from them by her fist. "YOU MISERABLE, LYING BASTARD!!! YOU AREN'T DEAD!" Before he could recover from the first blow, Miroku was struck several more times, each one just as punishing. 

Sprawled there, the first thing he heard was sobbing. As his eyes regained their focus, he could see her sitting with her face in her hands. Ignoring the split and bleeding lip, he stretched his hand to her, only to have it slapped away. 

"You lied to me! Why! Why did you do that to me?" 

"Because I thought you still loved Kiyoshi. I wanted to die, but I couldn't." Rubbing a bruised side, the normally eloquent monk struggled for his words. "Sango, you are the single best thing that has ever happened to me, better than being born. I didn't want to walk away, but I couldn't stay." 

Something inside her told Sango his hand was moving in her direction again. Her rage smoldering, she flexed her arm, baring the blades hidden in her armour, before stabbing them into the soil, with one on either side of his wrist. "If you ever touch me again, I will kill you. Do you hear me?" Yanking the blades free, she turned away, her body racked by tears and shame. 

After many long minutes, she realized through the pain he was still there. Whirling towards him as she rose to her feet, her hand snatched Hairikitsu from where it lay. "What? You think this is funny? You think playing with my heart is a game?" Raising her massive weapon high, she waited for him to say something , to flinch, but he was still staring at where steel had torn gouts in the soil on either side of his cursed hand. "Answer me!" 

Slowly pulling his hand back, Miroku rose to his knees and bowed, baring his neck. "I'm sorry, Sango-sama." 

"Why? Why did you do this to me?" 

Still looking to the ground, Miroku drew a deep breath. "Because I didn't want to hurt you. I will hurt you. I have no future, no past. Kiyoshi was your past, he was a connection to everything you want to rebuild. I was afraid you would go back to him, and that you might not. If you stay with me, you will have to watch my curse kill me. With him, you might have had a life, a normal life, a family, after this is over. I wanted you to be happy." Slowly, he raised his head as Sango lowered her weapon. 

"You made Inuyasha tell me you were dead, so I could be happy?" Sango shook her head, the anger starting to cool in her eyes. She rested one end of the Hairikitsu in the ground, leaning on it as she found just how much her shoulder hurt. 

Standing, Miroku nodded, unable to look at her again. "I just wanted what was best for you. I have no future. If I'm around, none of you do. I can't give you what you want, Sango. I'm sorry." Without another word, he turned to walk away. 

Seeing his back, Sango felt as if all the emotions of the past month had been bundled and dumped onto her in a single heartbeat. "Where do you think you're going, Houshi-sama?" 

Pausing, Miroku looked up the trees, his shoulders sagging. "I don't know. Someplace else." 

"No, you aren't." Taking the three steps to his side, she grabbed his shoulder, turning him to face her. "You promised me you weren't leaving." Sango wrapped her arms around his, hugging him tightly as she felt blood thudding through his veins. 

Miroku didn't, couldn't react. Moments before, she had been ready to kill him in a fit of rage, and now he couldn't leave. "Uh, Sango, I'm touching you." 

"Shut up, baka." Pushing him back a little, holding him at arm's length, Sango smiled oddly. "You have made me several oaths. I am not about to relieve you of them, and you would dishonor yourself if you broke them. A Hunter's man must have honor. You are staying where I can keep an eye on you, even if I have to tie you up." 

_Hunter's man?_ "Huh?" 

Releasing her monk, Sango stepped back. "Later, Houshi-sama. In the morning." Kneeling, she fed wood to the fire, then brushed her hands. "It has been a long few days, and tomorrow will be longer. We will need our sleep if we are to be to Keade's in three days." 

Nodding to herself, Kirara stretched and stood from where she had been watching. To her, it was as it should be. Turning, she crept back into the forest, looking for her delayed diner. Sniffing the ground for trails, her ears picked up the signs that her life were officially back to normal. The sound of one hand smacking another, and her mistress' voice directed at Airhand. 

"Don't press your luck, bozou." 

--- 

Author's notes:   
See, I told you it would have a happy ending. I hope everyone followed Kirara's names for everyone- Storm-eyes = Kiyoshi; Airhand = Miroku; Whitedog = Inuyasha. 

Soundtracking... wow, lots of music went into the writing of this. Too much to list. There was one big one, though. Evanescence's _Forgive Me_, It just seemed to scream the theme of this tale. Monk and Hunter, each made a variation on the same mistake, a lack of faith and a perception of betrayal. At times, when that song played, I could hear one, or the other, or both, singing it. Of course, lots of caffiene helps with that kind of thing. 

For a fic (novella?) that was originally going to be a Miroku-Sango-Kiyoshi triangle, this ended up effecting everyone a lot. The epilouge may have been a little monk-centric, but Miroku really hasn't been there through all of this. He was busy hiding, while Sango was in pain. That sonuvabitch. That miserable, lying, honorless, sack of filth! 

Maybe I'll rewrite this to be more Kirara-centric... 


End file.
